TAMPA, Fla. — After four years, the new Howard Frankland Bridge is nearly finished. A representative with Archer-Wester, one of the companies building the bridge, said the build is roughly 90% complete. FDOT expects the new bridge to open to traffic next Spring.
The FDOT project cost more than $865 million. It is the department's biggest bridge project in history.
Roughly 250,000 drivers use the Howard Frankland to travel between Hillsborough and Pinellas County every day. Now, FDOT project leaders say next spring, those drivers will have a safer and more efficient ride.
David Alonso, senior project manager for FDOT said, "We designed this new bridge with added capacity, we have added four more additional lanes, those are express lanes. So you're going to see a significant improvement in traffic flow through this area."
Alonso said the new build brings the Howard Frankland Bridge into the 21st century.
"The old 60s bridge that was the original Howard Frankland Bridge was beyond its service life," he said.
The design of the new bridge keeps Tampa Bay's rapid growth and your safety in mind.
"With less congestion, it should be safer. We also have more barrier walls," Alonso explained. "And the pavement, the cross sections, make sure the water is shedding off the pavement so you don't have hydroplaning conditions."
Workers have now completed the substructure of the new bridge, the most challenging portion of the build.
Alonso said, "Now, we are up above the piles and working primarily on the superstructure and that phase is much more predictable."
The new bridge is expected to open to traffic next spring, then the existing southbound bridge will close for repairs. Once complete, that bridge opens back up to traffic, while the existing northbound bridge gets demolished.
Greg Deese, the project's FDOT resident engineer said, "Reconstructing the Howard Frankland Bridge, a structure that will last the next hundred years and will be the biggest bridge in the state when complete, is a really big deal."
More than 300 people are working on the bridge project, according to FDOT.