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Bids In For U.S. 301 Widening

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By SUSAN M. GREEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

RIVERVIEW - State transportation officials opened bids for the long-anticipated widening of U.S. 301 last week and found them all under budget, with the lowest coming in at just less than $61 million.

Gordana Jovanovic, project manager for the Florida Department of Transportation, said she was pleased to see 12 offers come in, all below the $91 million maximum figure advertised when the project went out to bid. The highest bid was about $83 million.

"We didn't expect it to be this low," Jovanovic said.

She cautioned, however, that the bids must be reviewed and analyzed before a contract is awarded, probably in mid-July at the earliest. Transportation officials had said earlier they hoped construction would begin this fall, but that depends on the availability of materials and other factors.

"It's too early to say when the orange cones would be on the street," Jovanovic said.

The project is the first leg of a 10-mile widening of U.S. 301 from Gibsonton Drive south to State Road 674.

The bids were to widen the two-lane stretch between Gibsonton Drive and County Road 672, about a mile south of Big Bend Road, to six lanes with a raised median. Officials have said they hope to start on the second phase of widening, from C.R. 672 south to S.R. 674, in the next two years.

Jovanovic said workers will inconvenience motorists as little as possible. The plan is to construct new lanes on the east side of the existing road, then shift traffic to those lanes when the time comes to work on the west side. Homes and businesses will be guaranteed access during construction, Jovanovic said.
Barricades Coming Back
RUSKIN - Motorists who like to take the back road from Sun Point Shopping Center or the Hillsborough County Service Center to 19th Avenue will find their shortcut closed for a second time this year when workers shut down 30th Street Southeast at the end of June.

The road is expected to be closed for three months to allow developer Ryan Companies US Inc. to install utilities as required by its county-approved development order, said Hillsborough spokesman Steve Valdez. County commissioners recently approved the street closing, he said.

Ryan Companies is building a large warehouse and office park on 30th Street, just south of 19th Avenue. The developer closed the road for a month in February to install stormwater improvements.

Gary Bauler, Ryan vice president of development, said workers need to shut down the road for three months to install natural gas and sanitary sewer lines. The developer plans to widen 30th between the new Shell Point Road extension and State Road 674 from two lanes to four, but that project is not expected to begin until next year.

Valdez stressed that the road will remain open from State Road 674 to the west-side entrance of the Sun Point shopping complex and the county service center. Motorists can go around the blockage by taking Cypress Lakes Boulevard on the east side of 30th or 12th Street Southeast on the west side.

GOT A QUESTION?

Do you wonder why two roads come together as they do? Know about a recurring traffic hazard or bottleneck in your South Shore neighborhood or on your commute? Think you know a way to relieve traffic jams? Call Susan Green at (813) 865-1566 or e-mail sgreen@tampatrib.com with suggestions for "Getting Around."

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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