State Road 589 (Florida)
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The Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway (Florida State Road 589 is a north-south toll road near the Florida Gulf Coast [link] [link]. Maintained and operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, this 57-mile transportation corridor was built to accommodate the increasing commuter traffic in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area, with an extension of the Suncoast Parkway (to US 19/98 north of Crystal River in Citrus County) in the planning and development stage[link].
Completed in October 1994, the 15-mile-long Veterans Expressway (originally known as the Northwest Hillsborough Expressway) extends 15 miles from SR 60 (the Courtney Campbell Causeway) west of Tampa International Airport to SR 597 (Dale Mabry Highway) in northern Hillsborough County. The southern two miles, between Courtney Campbell Causeway and Hillsborough Avenue (on the west side of Tampa International Airport), upgraded Eisenhower Boulevard to expressway standards with frontage roads and is not tolled. North of Hillsborough Avenue, the remaining 13 miles are within new right-of-way.
Between Courtney Campbell Causeway and Dale Mabry Highway, intermediate interchanges are provided at Independence Parkway, Memorial Highway, Hillsborough Avenue, Waters Avenue, Anderson Road, Linebaugh Avenue/Wilsky Boulevard, Gunn Highway, Erlich Road, Hutchinson Road and Van Dyke Road. There are two mainline barrier plazas (Anderson and Sugarwood) and six ramp plazas. The "N minus 1" formula is used for truck toll rate schedule.
Opened in 2001, the 42-mile-long Suncoast Parkway (SR 589) proceeds north from the Veterans Expressway to US 98 in Hernando County, Florida, USA, near Chassahowitzka. Drivers of automobiles traveling the entire length of the Suncoast Parkway pay $3.00 US toll.
With the completion of the Suncoast Parkway, the stub of the Veterans Expressway from Exit 13 to Dale Mabry Highway was designated State Road 568.
In August 2005, a massive reconstruction project began on the interchanges between I-275 and Memorial Hwy, near Tampa International Airport. The project will consist of a four-level stack interchange at the Spruce St Interchange, a three-level cloverstack at the Courtney Campbell Causeway Interchange, and an extensive auxiliary exit ramp system streaching from Independence Pkwy to just north of I-275. In addition, through traffic would be completely separated from local and airport traffic by a four-lane (median) bypass (two lanes northbound and tow lanes southbound). The first phase of the bypass lanes (northbond only) are currently being built, with the second phase (southbound only) to begin sometime near 2012 or so. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2010 with a cost of $202 million. The second phase currently in the early design stages and there is currently no timetable set for construction. Complete project information can be obtained by selecting this link. [link]
Also in the works (it's only in the early planning stages at this time), a widening project for the Veterans Expressway between Hillsborough Ave and the Suncoast Pkwy that would increase the expressway to six lanes.
Exit list
Financial problems
- The Veterans Expressway has suffered many financial setbacks through the years. In the 1970s, planning began for the airport interchanges reconstruction project and was originally set to begin sometime in the 1980s. At the same time, planning for the Northwest Hillsborough Expressway had begun. Both projects became increasingly expensive as years past. But when the state ordered the building of the Veterans Expressway in the early 1990s, the Hillsborough County Expressway Authority (which owns the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway ran out of money to fund both the Veterans Expressway and the Tampa Airport Interchanges project. Thus the authority abandoned thier plans and the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise picked up the tab for the Veterans Expressway project, while the TPA Interchanges project was shelved. The result of this setback was an 'temporary' terminus at SR 60/Courtney Campbell Causeway.
- Another setback was the branch of the Northwest Hillsborough Expressway between Dale Mabry Highway and Interstate 275. When the Veterans Expressway project entered the late planning stages, the name of the incomplete thoroughfare was changed to the Lutz Expressway. However, due to a freeway revolt, the section was never built. Today, you can see the remnants of the expressway's beginings at a mound in the median as you approach the Dale Mabry Hwy Exit on the Veterans Expressway.
Other former sections
In addition to the current State Toll Road 568, there were two other roads that once carried the SR 589 designation. Originally, State Road 589 was multiplexed with State Road 60 between Exit 2A and Exit 1, then extended to West Spruce Street and Boy Scout Boulevard. These roads were redesingated as SR 616
The SR 60/589 multiplex was planned to be extended southward to I-275, where SR 589 would branch off onto the West Crosstown Expressway and become part of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, at Exit 4. The West Crosstown was cancelled due to a freeway revolt, and the SR 589 and SR 449 desigantions were eliminated from the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
Mishaps
Numerous accidents that have occurred on the expressway in recent years have been in local headlines.
- In 2002, a tanker-trailer overturned while navigating the sharp turn ramp at Independence Parkway. The resulting fire chared several support beams on the southbound flyover of the expressway, shutting it down for nearly two months. The smoke caused by the fire was seen for miles, leading some to believe that something major had gone wrong at nearby Tampa International Airport.
External Links
- [Tampa Airport Interchanges Project Page]
- [Veterans Expressway Widening Project Page]
- [Suncoast Parkway Proposed Extension Project Page]
- [Florida Route Log(SR 589)]
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