The recently approved highway widening project on I-275 from Hillsborough to Bearss Avenues is moving forward despite strong opposition. This is essentially the TBX—Tampa Bay Express—the same billion-dollar boondoggle that Tampa neighborhoods fought hard against in 2016.

Now more than ever, our community needs to come together to stop this. As housing costs rise, it's crucial that we lower the cost of living by prioritizing and funding alternative modes of transportation, and a transportation network that leaves more room for housing people instead of cars. Data from the State of the Region report shows that our cost of housing plus transportation is significantly higher than in peer cities, highlighting the urgent need for better public transit options (https://stateoftheregion.com/).

To gain a deeper understanding of the issue, I encourage everyone to read this insightful article: Op-Ed: Latest Vote to Widen I-275 Angers Tampa Residents, Inspires Push for Better Public Transit.

How It Started

To understand where we are today, let’s briefly revisit the history of TBX and refocus on what we can do about it now.

The battle to stop TBX began in 2015 when Sunshine Citizens, a grassroots organization, formed to oppose it. The name was chosen because the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the owner of the TBX, did not properly inform the public about the massive $6 billion, 90-mile highway expansion project, keeping it “out of the sunshine.”

Fortunately, the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) had, and still has, the power to impact all federally-funded transportation projects in the county. At its June 2016 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) public hearing, the TPO Board could have blocked the funds required to pay for the widening.

Over 300 residents organized and showed up to that eight-and-a-half-hour hearing. The public clearly stated that highway widening does not meaningfully improve mobility and would not result in a strong, healthy Tampa.

A resident living near the project even filed a Title VI Discrimination complaint, as 80% of the households that would be demolished for the project were Black or Latino. This complaint initiated a federal investigation that may have had an impact on the scope of the project.

Despite the incredible organizing efforts against TBX, the TPO Board did not vote to remove it from the project priorities list.

Due to community pushback, FDOT rebranded TBX as "TBNext" in 2017, breaking it into smaller segments. Some plans were altered to reduce widening, and key structures like Cafe Hey and La Segunda were saved. This showed that citizens' voices were heard.

How It’s Going

Fast-forward to 2024, and somehow the TBX is materializing before our eyes. Nearly every segment has been approved for widening, including the most recent section on I-275, which will further bifurcate Tampa’s dense, historic urban core from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss Avenue. How could this happen with so many fumbles and so much opposition—from the neighborhood all the way to the national level?

History repeated itself at the most recent TIP hearing on June 12. Just like in 2016, verbal and written public comments strongly supported public transit projects and opposed road widening. Even the TPO’s own Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) issued a formal recommendation voicing strong support for those same public transit projects.

Per its function, the CAC analyzed the TIP document a week prior and passed its own motions recommending that the TPO Board move the following three widely-supported public transit projects up the TIP’s priority list for funding:

1. Airport-to-downtown premium transit

2. Brightline station multimodal connections

3. HART CSX study

What happened next caught everyone in the boardroom off-guard.

However, these projects were not prioritized. Instead, TPO Board member Joshua Wostal, a first-term Hillsborough County Commissioner, proposed converting a planned noise wall project on I-275 to a widening project, a motion that passed by just one vote, 8-7. The majority who voted for widening included non-elected industry representatives and officials not representing Tampa's citizens. Conversely, the seven "no" votes were mainly from elected officials, including three Tampa City Council Members and three Hillsborough County Commissioners.

Over the last 10 years, residents and workers of Tampa have tirelessly and selflessly shown up to Hillsborough TPO’s TIP public hearings and filled out their surveys, telling their representatives, including the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, FDOT, and even the state legislature, to support—with funding—public transit and multimodal transportation options.

The most recent example is the results of the county-wide survey for the Access 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), the area’s top plan that informs transportation decisions written by TPO staff. It received over 4,600 responses, and even though the majority of those responses were from residents in Unincorporated County (88%), they showed unwavering support for all the proposed public transit projects and considerably less support for the road widening projects. Overall, highway widening is losing favor as people learn that induced demand just creates more traffic, particulate matter pollution from tires has been covering our homes with debris and filling our lungs, and impacts disproportionately negatively impact Black and Latino communities.

What’s Next

The Tampa Bay community, particularly the neighborhoods in Tampa’s urban core most impacted by I-275, clearly still want to stop the widening, but can they? The answer is yes, and no.

Technically, the I-275 segment from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss has Preliminary Engineering (PE) funding. According to state statute, when a project has PE funding, the only way to stop the widening is a magical handshake between the Secretary of the FDOT and the majority of the TPO Board.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the project can’t be stopped.

DOTs across the U.S. have stopped similar projects because of community opposition. For example, in 2022, FDOT suspended construction of a turnpike that would’ve split the town of Royal in half.

And it definitely doesn’t mean that citizens are powerless. Here are some specific, tangible things anyone can do right now to influence transportation decisions in the near future:

1. Push back on the recent highway widening decision made by the TPO Board.

• Reconsider the widening project on I-275 from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss. This project could cost Florida taxpayers upwards of an estimated $291 million for the design-build phase alone. Only one TPO Board member needs to change their stance; then the board could make a new motion to pause the project. Email and call them, and show up to their upcoming meetings, especially if you live within 500 feet of I-275, between Hillsborough Ave. and Bearss Ave.

• Start talking about removing industry representatives as TPO Board voting members. Since 2016, the non-elected industry representatives from the Tampa Port Authority, Tampa Aviation Authority, and the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority have always voted pro-TBX. While these entities move tourists and goods, they have very specific special interests. Instead of having a vote, they could be retained as “advising members.”

2. Show support for Tampa’s transformative, nearly shovel-ready public transit projects, and get active in local transportation planning.

• Support the HART Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The project from downtown Tampa traveling north along Florida Ave. is well-studied and ready to go. The key to moving it forward is FDOT funding and support of HART’s plan, plus City of Tampa support, including local operations funding. Support from Tampa citizens would help move it forward.

• Fund the Tampa streetcar expansion project. Similar to the HART Arterial BRT study, this project has widespread support from key agencies and the community. What is still needed is local funding. Ask Tampa City Council to find the up-front “local match” funds to make this project a reality.

• Fund the HART transit authority at a minimum $10 million per year. Funds are immediately needed for the cost of operations, but also for additional buses, and more. It is common for local governments that understand the importance of public transportation in poverty reduction and the economy to fund public transit. There is still time for the council and mayor to allocate funds in this year’s budget cycle in which they have over a billion dollars. Budget hearings and decisions will take place in August and September.

This is a pivotal moment for us to make our voices heard. I urge you to take action by sending an email to the Hillsborough TPO members and joining us by attending the meteting on the 14th, urging them to reconsider the I-275 widening project and support better public transit options.