Traffic eased on Howard Frankland (so far)

TAMPA -- Call it the Monday morning miracle.

A slight tweak in the road construction pattern that spurred so much commuter anger last week appears to be working, with traffic on Interstate 275 near downtown Tampa on its usual slow crawl instead of all-out gridlock. And traffic on the Howard Frankland bridge into Tampa was backed up to the hump instead of all the way to Pinellas County.

Last week's congestion was caused by a relatively small change: the blocking off of an interstate merge lane between the Howard Avenue entrance ramp and the exit to downtown Tampa, one of many projects slated for a major interstate reconstruction project.

On Friday, Department of Transportation officials made a slight change in hopes of improving the traffic flow. Instead of blocking only about half of the milelong merge lane, they have now closed almost all of it to prevent drivers from weaving in and out. That, and the hope of habitual cross-bay drivers anticipating the change, should ease the commute.

Still, the real test will be the Pinellas-Tampa drive in the afternoon, according to Bay News 9 traffic reporter Russ Handler. The mornings, he said, "are note quite as terrible as the afternoons."

For updated traffic information, please see our Traffic section.

- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Comments

[Kenneth]

Thanks DOT for starting the Gandy work at the same time - now both bridges are backed up. Real smart.

[Adam]

Take note those of you who weave back and forth in your lanes to try to get ahead. You are slowing EVERYBODY down. Especially those of you who dive down soon to be closed lanes so you can pick up 500 feet. Id 10 t errors.