New express lanes are being added to I-275 in St. Pete

Construction on a stretch of Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park has begun.

The $340 million project will add three more tolled express lanes that will eventually connect downtown St. Petersburg to Tampa.

The project will reduce traffic along evacuation routes and add noise barriers, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

Chelsea Favero is the Metropolitan Planning Organization Division Manager with Forward Pinellas.

She said this is one step in completing the connection between downtown St. Petersburg and the new express lanes on the Howard Frankland Bridge.

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“This area is growing exponentially, and we’ve seen a lot of people move to the area,” Favero said. “We have new jobs coming to the area, and these express lanes provide that additional capacity for those that are driving in the corridor.”

She added that there is no timeline for when the downtown St. Petersburg express lanes will be connected with the bridge’s express lanes, which are still under construction.

The tolled express lanes on the Howard Frankland, which are expected to open in 2026, will increase the capacity by 50%.

Favero wants this project to give people more predictable and shorter travel times.

“So hopefully when this project is complete, it’ll really speed up people’s travel, not just across the Bay but also into St. Petersburg and into Pinellas County as a whole,” she said.

The project will also add a pedestrian path along Ulmerton Road.

Prince Contracting, a firm based in Tampa, was awarded the project last month.

Lily Belcher is a news intern for WUSF, the NPR station for the greater Tampa Bay area.