New Tampa East West Connector Road

Two bids have been submitted for the State's first private toll road, connecting New Tampa to I-275. Bids for the 3.1 mile road, which is 20 years in the making, were submitted to The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority. This comes at a time when the Authority is under investigation for controversial actions taken regarding legal counsel and the authority's paid lobbyist. Authority director Mervine was quoted as saying that the road could be open in 2009 and that it would shave 12 minutes off the commute to downtown Tampa from New Tampa.