American/Avalon was retained to prepare a Project Development & Environment study for capacity improvements of 6 miles of US 92 (Gandy Boulevard) on either side of Tampa Bay. The build alternatives included converting the 5 lane undivided arterial in Hillsborough County and 4 lane divided arterial in Pinellas County to a controlled access roadway.

In Pinellas County, this involved express lanes and frontage lanes with 3 overpass structures and 2 interchanges to provide access from the express to frontage lanes. One of these interchanges provided access to the Friendship Trail recreational area along the causeway adjacent to Tampa Bay. The estimated project costs for this build alternative was over $50 million in year 2002 dollars.

In Hillsborough County, Gandy Boulevard is a combination of a mile-long causeway and an urban 5-lane roadway in an area of South Tampa with heavy commercial development. Two build alternatives were proposed and both experienced great interest and communications with the public and agencies. One alternative involved extending the express-lane concept from the Pinellas County alternative into a multi-lane elevated bridge adjacent to local lanes that would provide access to local properties. The express lanes would connect to the southern end of the Leeroy Selmon (Crosstown) Expressway. A second alternative involved realigning the express lanes to by-pass this urbanized area south of the existing roadway by about a half-mile adjacent to a railroad corridor and connect back to the Selmon Expressway. The cost for the Hillsborough Alternatives estimated at about $150 million in year 2002 dollars.

This Study involved a very detailed and expansive public involvement program. Complex traffic strategies and roadway and bridge concepts were developed to assess the geometric constraints as well as environmental and social impacts. Due to future funding constraints, the PD&E Study has been temporarily suspended prior to selecting a recommended alternative in the Hillsborough County segment.