Bruce B. Downs Construction Motoring Along

It may be hard for some to remember when Bruce B. Downs Boulevard was not littered with orange cones.

But construction on New Tampa’s arterial roadway is rolling along, said Steve Valdez, spokesman for Hillsborough County Public Works.

Despite some wet weather this summer courtesy of storms Debby and Isaac, there has been no recent change to the $37 million project’s completion schedule. The county is expanding Bruce B. Downs Boulevard from four to eights lanes between Palms Springs Boulevard and Pebble Creek Drive.

Earlier this year, officials announced that north of the I-75 overpass, things were on track to be completed by the end of the calendar year. But south of the I-75 pass, a water line problem would push the completion date from the end of the calendar year to March or April.

Valdez said Tuesday those completion dates are still accurate. 

“Everything is still the same as it was before,” he said.

In addition to increasing the number of traffic lanes, the construction project will bring landscaped medians, a sidewalk and asphalt path plus bus bays. Dealing with the widening has been an exercise in patience.

Access points to strip plazas have become blocked or confusing to motorists, business owners have said, and a recent article in the Tampa Bay Times called Bruce B. Downs Boulevard “a classic case of trying to cram (and let's clean this up) 10 pounds of garbage into a 5-pound bag” given New Tampa’s population explosion.

Residents posting on Facebook say they will never get used to all those orange construction cones.

"Bothers me to no end," Amanda Knoll said.

"Get it done already," Merlina Glass added.

See also:

Bruce B. Downs Construction: Progressive Inconvenience

Bruce B. Downs Construction Driving You Batty?

Bruce B. Downs Contractor Succeeding Through Diversification

Worst Traffic: Bruce B. Downs or I-75?