Bayside Bridge
The speed limit is 55 mph (or about 88 km/h) until McMullen Booth. Due to cambering differences, cars experience bouncing when traveling in the northbound lanes. This occurs for the first (southern) half of the northbound span.
It features a SPUI interchange at State Road 60 and a diamond interchange on the south end of the bridge. Along with the bridge, a $12 million interchange was built at the intersection of 49th Street and Roosevelt Boulevard. The bridge was completed before McMullen Booth Road was widened, dumping up to 36,000 cars a day onto the two-lane road. On streets such as Marlo Road, drivers could wait as long as 15 minutes before being able to make a left turn.
In 1991, Pinellas County administrator Fred Marquis argued that the cost of the bridge could be funded by a 10-year extension of gasoline taxes. The plan went through as the "Penny for Pinellas" tax. This eliminated the need for a planned $2.5 million, 16-lane toll booth that would have been built on sensitive marshlands at the south end of the bridge. The cost of construction of the bridge is estimated at $71 million.
The Bayside Bridge connects to nearby Interstate 275 via the Gateway Expressway that opened in May 2024.
References
- ^ 2006 Average Annual Daily Traffic Counts in Pinellas County (A.A.D.T.) (PDF) (Map). Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ [1] Tampa Bay Times, Aug 18, 2012
- ^ This tragic turn may not be averted St. Petersburg Times, Aug 25th, 1993
- ^ Keep Tolls off the Bayside Bridge St. Petersburg Times, May 28, 1991
External links
- County Road 296 Connection Project at Tampa Bay Interstates site