TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday a nearly $1 billion investment to improve the infrastructure of the Howard Franklin Bridge in the Tampa Bay area.
During a news conference in Tampa, DeSantis called the project the “largest infrastructure project ever delivered in the Tampa Bay area,” and said the goal is to deliver a modernized bridge that will increase capacity by 50 percent.
“[It] will strengthen hurricane roots and improve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods across Tampa Bay,” DeSantis said.
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DeSantis said this project will tie directly into other key projects, including the Gateway Expressway project and I-275 express lanes, which opened last spring in Pinellas County.
The governor also announced the groundbreaking of the I-275 expansion, which is expected to relieve congestion in Pinellas County.
“It will help move goods around the Tampa Bay area. And it will, of course, reduce travel delays, some say up to 85 percent reduction in travel delays,” DeSantis said.