Accelerated plans for Pinellas connector bumps into light rail designs
A map shows the proposed route of the Gateway Express project that was unveiled in February.
ST. PETERSBURG — A month ago, when Gov. Rick Scott announced he would fast-track an expressway linking Pinellas' two major corridors, U.S. 19 and Interstate 275, he seemed to offer a well-timed gift to a region he's aiming to win over as he seeks re-election.
But he also dropped a ton of concrete on top of Pinellas' plans for a light rail route, which will also be on the November ballot, when residents will be asked to decide whether to support a sales tax increase to pay for rail and an expansion of the bus system.
Maps of the expressway and the rail line show that the two proposals — both years away from construction — come into conflict at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, where the Florida Department of Transportation's plans for a new road could choke off rail passengers' access to the airport.
Scott's sudden decision to accelerate the expressway's construction appears to have caught both FDOT and Pinellas transit officials off guard. At a meeting on Thursday, members of the two agencies said they had only recently realized that the two projects overlap near the airport, a problem they hadn't anticipated because the expressway seemed like a far-off idea that might materialize decades from now, if at all.
