Agencies will split the costs of Ybor link

An I-4-Crosstown connector likely will be finished by 2013.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, Times Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2007

TAMPA - Today, 31st Street in Ybor City is a wasteland of weedy vacant lots and scrap yards. In two years, construction is supposed to begin there on an elevated road that will plug a gap in the Tampa Bay region's highway network.

The catch is, this long-awaited link between Interstate 4 and the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway has become so costly, highway officials have been laboring over how to pay for it.

Now, after months of discussion, three road-building agencies have ironed out how they'll split the tab. The state Department of Transportation will pay the lion's share of the $600-million cost, with Florida's Turnpike Enterprise paying $80-million and the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority paying $45-million.

The specifics of the deal are slightly disappointing for the Expressway Authority, which runs the Crosstown. It had hoped to take on a bigger piece of this project to gain control over the tolls charged on the new road.

But ultimately, the agency is just pleased that the Crosstown Connector will finally be built, likely by 2013.

"It's a good thing for the region," said Expressway Authority spokeswoman Sue Chrzan. "Connecting these two roads will make a great way for people to go from one side of Tampa to the other without having to go through the downtown interchange" where I-4 meets I-275.

State officials have yet to decide what the toll will be; they have discussed a range from 25 cents to $1. Tolls on the rest of the Crosstown range from 75 cents to $3, depending on distances.

The connector will be a mile-long series of elevated bridges. It will follow a railroad corridor beside 31st Street in an industrial zone about 10 blocks east of Ybor City's historic and entertainment district.

Aside from giving cars another route, its trucks-only ramps will funnel fuel tankers and cargo trucks directly between I-4 and the Port of Tampa, keeping them out of Ybor. About 11,000 trucks a day come and go from the port.

"It will take a lot of truck traffic off the roads, which will be a huge benefit," said port spokesman Andy Fobes.

The project's price tag has ballooned to roughly $600-million because of the rising costs of road and bridge construction.

So the Transportation Department looked for financial help from two toll road agencies - the Expressway Authority, which operates only in Hillsborough County; and the Turnpike, which operates statewide.

Though they've settled on their three-way partnership, they have yet to decide exactly how they'll split all the tolls, Chrzan said.

The Expressway Authority had discussed paying $125-million and taking on the Turnpike's share of the project. Then the local agency could set the tolls on the new road and keep the money collected.

That would simplify matters because the road will be directly connected to the Crosstown, which the Expressway Authority already controls. And that way, the tolls would be funneled back into Hillsborough toll road projects, Chrzan said.

But the Transportation Department rejected that plan because it was cheaper for the Turnpike to borrow $80-million by issuing bonds, and the Turnpike already had taken steps to do so.

The Turnpike also makes the point that the tolls it collects also benefit local drivers - because the statewide agency has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into roads such as the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway, both of which are due to be widened or extended.

Mike Brassfield can be reached at brassfield@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 17, 2007, 00:10:17]