Interstate 275 (I-275), located in Florida, is a auxiliary Interstate Highway serving the Tampa Bay area. Its southern terminus is at I-75 near Palmetto, where I-275 heads west towards the Sunshine Skyway Bridge crossing over Tampa Bay. From that point, I-275 passes through St. Petersburg before crossing Tampa Bay again on the Howard Frankland Bridge, then continues through the city of Tampa, where it connects to an interchange with I-4 in Downtown Tampa. After the interchange, I-275 passes north through the Tampa suburbs to its northern terminus at I-75 in Wesley Chapel.
Route description
Southern terminus to St. Petersburg I-275 begins at exit 228 of I-75 with two lanes in each direction in rural Palmetto. I-275 immediately heads west of its parent Interstate and has an interchange with US Highway 41 (US 41) up the road. I-275's next interchange is with US 19, beginning a concurrency that lasts . After this exit, I-275 reaches the southern toll plaza for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. There is a corresponding northern toll plaza for southbound travelers. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a bridge that spans Tampa Bay. After reaching the northern end of the bridge, I-275 enters St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg At the northern end of the bridge, drivers briefly drive on the left side as the freeway's lanes invert for about half a mile () before US 19 exits the freeway at exit 17, serving as a local road in St. Petersburg. At this point, the Interstate expands to three lanes. I-275 has multiple exits in the city, each of them serving the residential neighborhoods that the freeway passes through. Between exits 22 and 23, the freeway becomes two lanes each way, expanding back to three thereafter. I-275 then has a major interchange with I-175, which provides access to Albert Whitted Airport and Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. The next major interchange occurs less than down the road with I-375, providing access to the waterfront along Tampa Bay. After this exit, I-275 continues through residential neighborhoods, widening to four lanes each way between exits 25 and 26, though the right lane in both directions being designated "exit only". It eventually passes beside Sawgrass Lake Park and then through an area of marshland. The freeway widens to four lanes in either direction at exit 30 before reaching its last interchange in St. Petersburg with SR 687 (4th Street). After traveling in St. Petersburg, I-275 crosses the Howard Frankland Bridge over Old Tampa Bay into Tampa.
Tampa I-275 reduces to three lanes in each direction at exit 39, as well as has an interchange with SR 60, which provides access to SR 589 and Tampa International Airport. I-275 widens back to four lanes in each direction after this interchange. I-275 then has an interchange with US 92 (Dale Mabry Highway), the first of two interchanges with the road, allowing access to Raymond James Stadium, Steinbrenner Field, and South Tampa. I-275 then crosses the Hillsborough River for the first time along its route. Afterward, from its entry into Tampa, I-275 has its next major interchange with I-4, a junction known locally as "Malfunction Junction". This junction was always clogged with daily rush-hour traffic and was subsequently overhauled. This interchange serves as I-4's western terminus and allows access to Orlando and the east coast of Florida. Furthermore, the freeway expands to four lanes through the interchange. After this major exit, I-275 reaches an interchange with US 92 (Hillsborough Avenue) again, allowing access to US 41, the historic Seminole Heights neighborhood, and East Tampa. After this interchange, US 41 (Nebraska Avenue) acts as a parallel local arterial for the freeway throughout the rest of its route through Tampa. I-275 crosses the Hillsborough River a second time and enters residential neighborhoods within Tampa. I-275 travels due north and parallel to US 41 for before turning northeast toward I-75. At this point, I-275 exits the outskirts of Tampa and enters Lutz, a suburb of Tampa. I-275 then reconnects with its parent Interstate Highway (I-75) and reaches its northern terminus near Wesley Chapel. I-275 is a major highway used as an evacuation route. Due to the importance of this highway, it is important for traffic to flow properly which is why there have been widening projects over the years as the Tampa population continues to increase.
History
Initial construction in Tampa
I-275 originally opened in 1962 as a segment of I-75, from the present northern terminus to a diamond interchange at SR 678 (Bearss Avenue). The portion of I-4 that would later become a part of I-275, the Howard Frankland Bridge, and its short freeway stubs at the bridge's endpoints, opened to traffic about a year earlier. In 1964, the stub of what was then known as I-4 between 50th Street (through "Malfunction Junction") and Armenia Avenue was completed. "Malfunction Junction's" northern end was a pair of ramp stubs that would later be filled in by I-75. In 1965, the segment of I-75 from "Malfunction Junction" to about Sligh Avenue was completed, and, by 1967, the remaining gaps in I-4 and I-75 were filled and opened to traffic. When I-275 was built it split Tampa cutting through historic and ethnic neighborhoods. A local citizen, Josh Frank, initiated #blvdtampa movement, which advocates removing I-275 and building a boulevard instead.
Controversy and repeated delays in Pinellas Around 1970, plans for the extension of I-75 into Pinellas County began. However, the first round of local opposition would lead to the eventual (and repeated) delays of I-75 through St. Petersburg. The first setback was led by 4th Street business owners and residents who demanded that construction on I-75 be stopped, since the bridge was already funneling unwanted traffic into the corridor. It has since seen many unforeseen business and residential booms due to the building of this bridge. At the same time, construction began on I-75 from SR 686 (Roosevelt Boulevard) to about 38th Avenue North. By this time, I-4 was truncated to "Malfunction Junction", allowing the I-75 designation to take over the freeway from the junction to 4th Street North. This segment was opened to traffic in 1973, with the gap between Roosevelt and 9th Street filled in a few years later. Around this time, I-75 was redesignated as I-275, and, after some more local opposition, I-275 was constructed to meander down to SR 595 (5th Avenue North), near downtown St. Petersburg, in 1975.
The construction of I-275 over nearly a 50-year period between 1970 and 2016 uprooted many Black families in the Methodist Town, Gas Plant, and 22nd Street neighborhoods. These practices of eminent domain by the St. Petersburg government helped to shut down small companies in these neighborhoods and sustained white businesses that were located more centrally. Families in the Gas Plant neighborhood were assured good jobs at Tropicana Field to help ease the burden of moving. During the 1970s, the government removed 285 buildings and 500 families to help build the Interstate which cost $11.3 million (equivalent to $ in ). The widespread demolition included 10 Black-American churches.Belcastro, Philip, "Poverty, Planning, Policy and Race: Urban Design in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 1965" (2017). USFSP Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate). 219 The families in the bulldozed Gas Plant neighborhood were guaranteed cheaper homes and 600 new jobs by the city, but these offers were never delivered.
The segment of I-275 between Memorial Highway (SR 60) and Himes Avenue was widened from four to six lanes in 1974. Additionally, a median barrier was built along the freeway from Himes Avenue to Downtown Tampa.
Many members in the affected neighborhoods found the actions taken by the government to be very controversial. In 1977, Chester James was appointed by the city government as the representative from Methodist Town to vote on the future development plans of his neighborhood. However, the city's unclear plans led him to vote in favor of evicting 377 families (including his own) from the neighborhood. There is also contention about the location of I-275 in southwest St. Petersburg, as its current placement is very similar to that of the 1935 segregation initiative perimeter.
Financial burdens through this part of the project caused further delays. However, I-375 opened partially to traffic in 1979, with full operation by 1981, and I-175 opened up in 1980.
With both downtown feeders now open, I-275 was extended to 28th Street South. However, another round of community revolts delayed the segment of I-275 between 28th Street South and 22nd Avenue South. In spite of the delay, the stretch was built by 1981. Exit 20 was configured for an anticipated westward expansion to a planned Pinellas Beltway. A freeway revolt killed many of Pinellas County's freeways during the 1970s and repeatedly delayed the construction of I-275. In addition, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse on May 9, 1980, during which the freighter MV Summit Venture took down one of the two spans of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and killed 35 people, reduced that future portion of I-275 to two lanes until the opening of the present bridge in April 1987.
In 1982, the segment between 22nd Avenue South and 39th Avenue South was opened to traffic. The Pinellas Bayway/US 19 interchange, opened to traffic in 1983–1984, is inverted for about half a mile (). The reason for this configuration is unknown; however, to this day, traffic continues to flow smoothly through the interchange with very little congestion. At about the same time this interchange opened, I-275 was complete.
Reconstruction and later changes
In 1984, the Himes Avenue exit/entrance was constructed. The exit was originally rumored to supplement a failed redevelopment project in the area during that time. Today, the Himes Avenue connection serves as reliever for nearby Raymond James Stadium.
When the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge opened in 1987, the portion had been restored to four lanes.
As originally built, the Memorial Highway/Westshore interchange was only a half diamond, and the West Shore Boulevard interchange was a full diamond. However, by 1990, both interchanges had undergone drastic changes to allow safe, free-flowing movement to and from Tampa International Airport, the Courtney Campbell Causeway, and the future Veterans Expressway. Among the improvements were three free-flowing exit and entry ramps for Memorial Highway from I-275. The exit ramp from I-275 south to Memorial Highway was reconstructed into a directional ramp towards Memorial Highway northbound, the entry ramp from Memorial Highway onto northbound I-275 was removed, and an entry ramp from southbound Memorial Highway to southbound I-275 was constructed. The two western ramps on the nearby West Shore Boulevard interchange were also removed (truncating the West Shore interchange to a half diamond) in order to limit accidents via traffic weave caused by traffic entering and exiting the aforementioned Memorial Highway interchange.
In 1991, the expansion of the Howard Frankland Bridge and 4th Street North interchange was completed.
In 1994, the two drawbridges on the northern approach to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, dating to the original twin Sunshine Skyway bridges, were replaced with high-level fixed spans, eliminating bottlenecks caused by openings.
The northern toll plaza to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was relocated south of the approach bridge in 2000 due to a lack of capacity. The original plaza only allowed three lanes, while the replacement allows six lanes to flow through, with the sixth lane dedicated to SunPass users.