Ashley Street Interchange Ramp To Be Redesigned To Connect Tampa Neighborhoods To Downtown

TAMPA, FL — A 60-year-old boondoggle that cut off Tampa neighborhoods from downtown Tampa, resulting in an economic development dead zone, will be remedied with the help of a federal grant of more than $5 million.

The grant will be used to redesign the Ashley Drive Interchange Ramp into downtown Tampa at from Interstate 275 to reunite Tampa Heights and surrounding neighborhoods with downtown Tampa.

U.S. Department of Transportation Under Secretary for Transportation Policy Carlos Monje joined Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, FDOT District 7 Secretary David Gwynn and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, in Tampa to celebrate the awarding of the federal grant to the city.

Castor called the federal funding through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant Program a landmark step in delivering on her Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow goals to reconnect the city, improve how people get around safely and easily and unlock more of downtown for housing and reinvestment.

The Uniting Neighborhoods & Infrastructure for Transportation Equity(UNITE) grant awards the city a total of $5,354,695 for the interchange project.

When this portion of Interstate 275 opened 1964, connecting I-275 with Interstate 4, it was hailed as a triump because it provided a missing link on I-275 and created Exit 44, the Ashley Street interchange, which provided a full-access entrance and exit to and from downtown Tampa with the exception of Scott Street that is only accessible from northbound Interstate 275.

In the process, however, the Ashley Drive on-ramp cut off the historic street grid, not only making it more difficult for cyclists and pedestrians to navigate the area, but also isolating historic neighborhoods from downtown and creating the economic development dead zone that led to the deterioration of East Tampa neighborhoods.

The federal funding will be used to lower that Ashley Drive Interchange Ramp to street level by removing the viaduct that raises up the extended highway exit ramp. The project will then reconnect the north downtown street grid with a new street-level Ashley Drive, making it safer and easier to walk and bike around downtown Tampa.

"These roadway changes along Ashley Drive will simplify traffic and reduce lane changing and speeding, improving conditions for walking and biking, as well as easing drivers from I-275 into downtown Tampa," Castor said. "With the help of this federal grant, we can make sure that our residents have better access to the resources they need in downtown Tampa, such as job opportunities, health care facilities, supermarkets, schools, affordable housing and recreational areas."

This federal grant project will also:

• Add new bicycle and pedestrian routes
• Create new street connections at Royal Street and Harrison Street, reducing barriers to walk/bike connectivity and access in north downtown
• Establish a project Community Advisory Committee
• Create new opportunities for green infrastructure and parks accessing the riverfront, and community-based, place-making along Ashley Drive
• Allow for potential future connection to Laurel Street

Additionally, this grant will support development opportunities for mixed and affordable housing, along with ground-floor retail.

In partnership with the Downtown CRA, the city is finalizing a contract to purchase a key parcel standing in the way of full ownership of all the property between Harrison and Laurel Streets.

In total, the city of Tampa is targeting four acres of underused land valued at $5.6 million adjacent to the redesign project with plans to invite proposals generating several hundred units of mixed-income and mixed-use development.

While in Tampa, Monje and the Tampa Mobility Department toured locations where another grant, the Safe Streets for All Federal Grant, will fund transportation safety projects like the Main Street Quick Build Project in West Tampa.

"Thanks to the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we are reconnecting neighborhoods and creating safer streets across the Tampa Bay area," Castor said. “I am thrilled that one of the first Reconnecting Communities grants is coming to the city of Tampa to fix the historic mistake that cut off neighbors and small businesses in Tampa Heights from downtown. Pedestrians and cyclists will have safer access to workplaces, grocery stores, recreation,and housing in north downtown."

Castor said the Ashley interchange ramp mistake has become more noticeable since the development of the Tampa Riverwalk, Armature Works and reinvestment projects in the Tampa Heights neighborhood.

"This early Reconnecting Communities grant comes on the heels of major Infrastructure law investments for the Tampa Bay area including for Safer Streets ($40M), Superfund cleanup ($5M), Port Tampa Bay ($12.6M), Brownfields Job Training ($500K), HART Cross Bay Ferry ($4.8M), and more," Castor said. "We are just getting started improving Tampa Bay’s infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting our competitiveness, and I am grateful that Mayor Castor and her team and other local partners continue to be forward-thinking and strategic for our neighbors.”

The entire project is expected to cost roughly $10.71 million dollars.