American was retained to prepare a project development and environment (PD&E) study for capacity improvements of six-miles of US 92 (Gandy Boulevard) on both sides of Tampa Bay. The build alternatives included converting the five-lane undivided arterial in Hillsborough County and four-lane divided arterial in Pinellas County to a controlled access roadway.
In Pinellas County, this involved express lanes and frontage lanes with three overpass structures and two 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. In 2002, the estimated construction costs for this build alternative was over $50 million.
In Hillsborough County, Gandy Boulevard is a combination of a one mile long causeway and an urban five-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 Selmon Expressway.
