State officials from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recently initiated the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study phase of an ambitious initiative to improve a causeway crossing Old Tampa Bay between the cities of Tampa and Clearwater.
The PD&E stage is the final step before official design work can begin, which is expected to begin after the study receives its final approval in early 2027. FDOT will clarify project details and overall cost as the planning process develops.
Currently, the 9.5-mile Courtney Campbell Causeway is approximately 50 years old and is in need of renovations or replacement. FDOT will need to perform significant renovations to ensure the bridges are up to code. This will include assessing the causeways vulnerabilities and damage caused by storms, crash rate frequency, needed traffic capacity and overall impact on water quality.
The department plans to implement a series of improvements to ensure the causeway holds up for the foreseeable future and can accommodate increased traffic rates. Among these improvements, the department will work to provide additional capacity, enhance bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure and harden the bridges to increase resilience and durability.
During the PD&E stage, the project will work to collect information and develop roadway improvements alternatives. Throughout this process, FDOT will determine the potential environmental and social effects that may result from “no-build” and “build” alternatives that may be pursued.
Photo by AbeEzekowitz at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, from Wikimedia Commons
