Building Bridges

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is preparing to release a request for proposal to build a new 8 lane span for the Howard Frankland Bridge (HFB). FDOT is planning to award the contract in late 2019, and to start construction in 2020.

At $814 million, it's not cheap, but has the advantage of being paid state and federal monies... and some tolls. But it's cheaper than the $892 million planned a baseball stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays, without parking in Ybor City, which could become the burden of Tampa and Hillsborough residents. The bridge will benefit a lot more people every day than a new baseball stadium.