–        Gandy Boulevard is also US 92 and serves as a regional highway and a local street
               –        Gandy Boulevard can not be widened unless additional property is acquired
               –        Gandy Boulevard has heavy east and west traffic as well as high volumes of north-south traffic.
               –        Gandy Boulevard has high volumes of left and right turns at all intersections
               –        Gandy Boulevard is at Level of Service “F” in the peak morning and afternoon travel hours.

Florida Department of Transportation’s Current Project

The current FDOT project is primarily a safety improvement, with aesthetic enhancements.  To improve safety, the FDOT reduced the number of left-turn opportunities on Gandy Boulevard. This minimizes potential conflict of left-turning traffic with opposing traffic. Dual left-turn lanes at the Westshore and Manhattan intersections were included to accommodate the large volume of traffic at those locations – from all directions. The 30-foot median on Gandy Boulevard was required to accommodate the dual left-turn lanes.

These changes will improve safety and the flow of traffic on Gandy Boulevard; however, they will not significantly increase the capacity of Gandy Boulevard to handle more traffic.  The community indicated to FDOT that Gandy was their main street.  The aesthetics of the current project were meant to provide a “main street” look and feel. 

Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority’s Proposed Solution

–        would move the “through region” trips up to an attractive high-speed, tolled, elevated “express lane”  

–         is intended to attract a specific customer – one who desires to get through the Gandy area as quickly as possible and is willing to pay a toll to avoid traffic congestion.

–        is an elevated structure down the median of Gandy Boulevard

–        the 30-foot height will allow drivers on Gandy Boulevard to have full visibility of businesses across the corridor as they drive beside the structure

–        would minimize impacts to FDOT’s median landscaping, and other aesthetic improvements. 

§         The median would a hold the supporting piers for the elevated roadway, spaced at approximately 140-foot intervals.  The footprint of each pier could be as small as are six-feet by five-feet.  While the median would be disturbed during construction, THEA would make every effort to ensure that any plant or tree disturbed by the pier construction would be relocated or replaced.

§         Impacts outside of the median would be minimized because most of the superstructure can be built at off-site fabrication facilities, and much of the assembly would be accomplished from above the existing travel lanes during off-peak periods. 

§         Increasing the minimum pier height to 30-feet will allow landscaping in the median to receive sunlight beneath the bridge.

§         At the 30-foot height, the bridge would be well above the street lights and signs being installed today.  Any lights on the elevated structure would be designed compliment the street lights that FDOT has already installed.