Northwest Hillsborough Expressway

The Northwest Hillsborough Expressway and its present-day counterpart, the East-West Road, in Tampa, Florida, have been the subject of heavy controversy since their beginnings in the 1980s. Most of the local opposition comes from the northern Hillsborough County community of Lutz, which has made many successful efforts (both in the past and present times) to halt construction of the highway through their neighborhoods.

History

Planning began for the Northwest Hillsborough Beltway in the 1960s/1970s as part of a multi-expressway/freeway system in Hillsborough County. Plans materialized gradually over the years, with very little backlash during the early stages. However, as northern Hillsborough County communities grew, so did the opposition. The Lutz community went very far to voice their opposition to the project, including creating an audio/video campaign, which included a song, music video, and lots of banners and stickers. They also rallied Florida politicians in Tallahassee to stop the expressway from being built. The efforts succeeded and the beltway was halted indefinitely.

By the mid 1980s, the Northwest Hillsborough Expressway was broken into two segments; the Lutz Expressway, and what would be known later as the Veterans Expressway. Plans continued to be developed for the Veterans Expressway through the 1980s, with final completion set for 1994. The Lutz Expressway plan was not revived again for several years. But when it did, the same Lutz communities revolted and succeeded.

The Veterans Expressway

See State Road 589

The East-West Road proposal today

Today, a segment of the failed Lutz Expressway continues to be regularly revived. It is simply called the East-West Road and is being spearheaded by the City of Tampa. The Florida's Turnpike Enterprise initially took on the plan but abandoned their efforts to build the highway after skyrocketing land acquisition prices and other financial burdens blocked their efforts. The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority also attempted to take on the project, even after securing a private/public partnership, but their efforts have also largely failed. The highway faces additional criticism from environmental groups due to its proposed routing through sensitive wetlands.

There is also a bridge, which would cross I-75, in the works. Even if the East-West Road fails completely, the bridge still could be built sometime after the economy improves.

References/Links

• Talk of east-west road revs up again St. Petersburg Times - July 30, 2006.