The exit ramp connecting Selmon Expressway to Amalie Arena is scheduled for demolition.

Downtown Tampa is edging closer to a significant road network revamp aimed at enhancing pedestrian safety and facilitating access to Amalie Arena and Water Street Tampa.

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) has fine-tuned plans to upgrade the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway and the surrounding surface roads in the Water Street and Channel districts. As the downtown area expands, the surrounding neighborhoods continue to face connectivity challenges, causing confusion for convention attendees, cruise passengers, hockey enthusiasts, and concert attendees who drive in for events.

Key changes include:

• Extending Whiting Street eastward from the expressway to Meridian Avenue to link the Channel district with the central business district. THEA board members recently voted to modify the design of the new Whiting Street segment to incorporate a bidirectional bike lane.
• Altering the design of a new exit ramp from the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway into the Channel district to terminate at a controlled stop perpendicular to Whiting Street instead of allowing free right turns.
• Removing Exit 6B, which is typically closed during downtown events, to eliminate the five-way intersection near Amalie Arena.
• Reconfiguring Exit 6A at Florida Avenue, including the removal of landscaping along the inside of the loop ramp and installation of new barrier protection for motorists, while retaining the tight curve.

The plan to connect Brush Street with Meridian Avenue via the new Whiting Street section aligns with the removal of CSX railroad tracks leading to the defunct Ardent Mills flour mill, acquired by Strategic Property Partners, the developer of Water Street, in 2018.

Infrastructure construction on the former flour mill site is currently underway, setting the stage for Water Street’s second phase.

THEA board members have voted to review the transportation project’s design in June 2022 following feedback from the city of Tampa. THEA staff will now finalize the Whiting Street Project Development and Environment study and seek final board approval in late spring or early summer before commencing design and construction.

Although the original cost projection for the project was $55.3 million, an updated cost estimate is pending, according to an agency spokesperson.