Gateway Expressway to connect Tampa Bay roads by early 2024

• Last year, 128,000 vehicles per day traveled the segment of the interstate between Gandy Boulevard and Fourth Street North, FDOT community outreach manager John McShaffrey told Axios.
• That makes the area a common spot for congestion for daily commuters as well as tourists heading from Tampa International Airport to Pinellas’ world-renowned beaches.
• The district is also home to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Details: The $595 million project will connect the major thoroughfares via two new tolled roadways, McShaffrey said.

• State Road 690 will be a four-lane elevated road linking I-275 to U.S. 19.
• State Road 686A, also four lanes, will tie together the interstate and the Bayside Bridge, which heads north into east Clearwater and Safety Harbor. It will continue south through the old site of the Sunshine Speedway until it merges with SR 690.
• The project will include express toll lanes in each direction on I-275 from south of Gandy Boulevard to Fourth Street North.

Yes, but: Non-tolled roads will still be available on all routes, McShaffrey said.

Between the lines: The toll roads were supposed to be operating by 2022, but like many transportation projects it faced delays along the way. McShaffrey attributed the most recent delays to last year’s hurricane season as well as labor and material shortages.