TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

U.S. 301 Widening Effort About To Hit The Gas

Tribune photo by JOHN CEBALLOS

Don Skelton, District 7 secretary for the Department of Transportation, addressed the crowd during a brief ceremony before the groundbreaking.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOHN CEBALLOS

jceballos@tampatrib.com

Published: November 4, 2008

Updated:

RIVERVIEW - The shovels hit the ground for the first time for a road project more than three years in the making.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. 301 widening project took place Thursday and attracted county officials as well as the designers and builders involved with making the project a reality.

The $110 million project will widen the six-mile segment of U.S. 301 between Gibsonton Drive and County Road 672 from a two-lane rural road to a six-lane divided highway with a 22-foot median.

Pedestrian features will include a 5-foot sidewalk on the west side and a 12-foot multiuse path on the east.

Everyone involved praised the partnership between the developers, the state and Hillsborough County for making the widening possible.

"In these tight economic times, partnerships like this one are going to become more necessary," said Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean.

The state is contributing $47 million to the project, which includes $32.9 million from a grant awarded to the county in October 2007.

"The funding we received was for communities with state roads that are congested, and we certainly have that on U.S. 301," Bean said.

The remaining money will come from developers, who will contribute $42 million, and the county will supply about $20 million.

Don Skelton, District 7 secretary for the Department of Transportation, praised the partnership for helping accelerate the process.

"The cooperation between the county, the state and the developers probably advanced construction for this project by about 10 years," Skelton said.

Construction on the project will begin this month and is scheduled to be open to traffic in summer 2012.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT: Widening U.S. 301 from Gibsonton Drive to County Road 672

DISTANCE: 6 miles

LANES: From two to six

COST: $110 million

COMPLETION DATE: Summer 2012

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT