A half-billion-dollar express lanes project in East Florida is one step closer to beginning after a county board gave it the green light.
The Hillsborough County Transportation Planning Organization approved TIP Amendment 43 last month, moving the Florida DOT I-4 Widening project onto the county’s Fiscal Year 2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program.
The I-4 widening project will run 17 miles between Tampa and Plant City, Florida, and add one express lane on the inside of the interstate in each direction. A slide shown during the board meeting confirmed there are plans for a second express lane in each direction.
Along that same route, the bridges crossing over seven different roads will also be widened. Crews will also add retaining walls and improve signing and pavement markings. Intelligent Transportation Systems will also be added.
One reason given during the board meeting to justify the project was the forecasted doubling of vehicle trips along this I-4 corridor over the next 20 years. One presenter referred to the corridor’s current travel times as “unreliable.”
Current estimates for the project’s construction costs sit at $495.5 million, including $3.7 million in state and federal funds for designing the project. The state plans to advertise this project as a modified phased design build project.
In October 2025, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis publicly moved the project’s timeline up to begin in 2028, after it was previously scheduled to break ground in 2038. A press release from DeSantis’ office described the project as “separating long-distance traffic from local commuter traffic.”
