i-75 Tampa Interstate 75 Tampa News Blog

i-75 Tampa News Blog - Feb 08 ...

> Developer Pulls Zoning Request along i-75 ... Feb 29/08
Plans for a huge mixed-use development off Interstate 75 near State Road 60 are dead in the water, at least for now. Zons Development, which submitted plans for its mega-project in 2007, has withdrawn its request to rezone the 144-acre stretch of property west of I-75, east of Falkenburg Road and north of the Selmon Crosstown Expressway. The plan had been scheduled to go before the county Land-Use Board on Tuesday and included big-box retail space, a hotel, 700 multifamily homes and a research corporate park.... cont...

> More money requested to extend I-75 widening ... Feb 29/08
When the $431 million contract for widening Interstate 75 was awarded almost exactly one year ago, the massive project came up short of where the Florida Department of Transportation had hoped. This year, FDOT district secretary Stan Cann wants to correct that. Cann told members of the Southwest Florida Transportation Initiative Friday that he’s got $32 million in his requested 5-year budget to push the project one interchange north. That would mean 6-laning the interstate from Colonial Boulevard, where the current project will end, to State Road 82, known locally as Martin Luther King Boulevard west of the highway and Immokalee Road to the east. The new work, a distance of a little over 1 1/2 miles, would be in the 2012-2013 budget. Cann said that four months into the 3-year so-called iROX project — I-75 Road Expansion — contractors are already a month ahead.... cont...

> Tractor-Trailer, Pickup Collide On I-75 Near Gibsonton ... Feb 28/08
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the collision of a tractor-trailer and pickup about a mile south of the Gibsonton exit of southbound Interstate 75 early this morning. The pickup hit the back of tractor-trailer carrying pipe about 4 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol said. The pickup burned and its driver fled, FHP said.... cont...

> Night closings on Bruce B. Downs will send drivers along I-75 ... Feb 25/08
Night-owl drivers will find Bruce B. Downs Boulevard impassable under Interstate 75 tonight through Friday morning. Getting from one side to the other will involve a round-trip detour of more than 6 miles on I-75. The boulevard is being closed for a construction project between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. each night. Construction crews are building a flyover at the interchange. When it's completed next year, the flyover will speed southbound drivers from Bruce B. Downs over I-75 and into the southbound lanes.... cont...

> Port Manatee wants a new road linking the port to I-75 ... Feb 22/08
The port wants a new road linking the port to Interstate 75. Funding for these projects would likely come from a combination of port revenue and state grants. But the port's expansion to the north would be at the expense of as many as 181 acres of wetlands. The new berths and a turning basin would likely result in loss of 42 acres of sea grass in Tampa Bay. The port replanted sea grasses displaced by its most recent expansion.... cont...