20 years in the making, and under the control of the embattled Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, will the East-West connector ever be built? The Authority has seen its controversial director resign, a less than glowing state audit, and has repeated calls from state lawmakers to be disbanded.
This 3.1 mile "yellow brick road" is supposed to shave 12 minutes off of a commute from New Tampa to downtown Tampa. It was previously "abandoned" by the Florida Turnpike folks because it would be the most expensive toll road per mile in the entire State. Now it has been "farmed out to bid" with private investors and as I recall the initial bids that came back weren't quite what the Authority was expecting
Today I read in the St. Pete Times that there is a new glitch to this yellow brick road project. It seems that a "tiny" portion of the land necessary to build this thing is under the control of a homebuilder who is developing part of the K-Bar ranch and it seems that we are at a "Mexican standoff". Apparently, the developer is "owed" flood mitigation credits and is in negotiations with Tampa. This road has a projected opening of 2009.
If only we had the Wizard of Oz to help us out!
This 3.1 mile "yellow brick road" is supposed to shave 12 minutes off of a commute from New Tampa to downtown Tampa. It was previously "abandoned" by the Florida Turnpike folks because it would be the most expensive toll road per mile in the entire State. Now it has been "farmed out to bid" with private investors and as I recall the initial bids that came back weren't quite what the Authority was expecting
Today I read in the St. Pete Times that there is a new glitch to this yellow brick road project. It seems that a "tiny" portion of the land necessary to build this thing is under the control of a homebuilder who is developing part of the K-Bar ranch and it seems that we are at a "Mexican standoff". Apparently, the developer is "owed" flood mitigation credits and is in negotiations with Tampa. This road has a projected opening of 2009.
If only we had the Wizard of Oz to help us out!
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