TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa’s I-275 and I-4 interchange is one of the busiest areas in the city.
It’s not unusual to see bumper-to-bumper traffic and long lines at exits.
It’s one of the reasons why FDOT started working on making changes to the downtown interchange.
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“This was a safety and operational improvement project,” said Austin Petersen, Resident Engineer for FDOT.
Construction began in the fall of 2023, and now crews are more than halfway done.
“We’re in progress on many of our bridges. The new I-275 Northbound to Ybor City exit, that’s probably going to come online in the fall of this year, so that’s getting really close to completion. The new flyover from I-275 SB to I-4 Eastbound is in progress as well, probably anticipating that to be closer to the end of project completion in the spring of next year. We have also finished a lot of the drainage work on this project," said Petersen.
This $227.5 million project is a big undertaking. FDOT’s goals are to improve the function of the interchange, create better traffic flow, and reduce crashes.
“When we are finished here, you’ll have an additional lane in most of the directions for the interchange. So I-4 westbound to I-275 southbound, I-4 Westbound to I-275 Northbound—those will each get an additional lane. Then we’ll have the two-lane flyover bridge from I-275 southbound to to I-4 eastbound and the existing bridge that’s there will be a direct exit to Ybor City,” said Petersen.
As crews get closer to completion, FDOT wants to urge drivers to be aware of the different traffic patterns and drive safely.
“When workers are present, please slow down. Please be paying attention so that people can get home safely at night,” said Petersen.
To receive alerts on upcoming traffic changes, you can sign up for that here.
The project is expected to be complete in Spring 2027.
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