Monday, September 6, 2010

Changes coming to northbound Interstate 275 at Exits 39A and 39B

Changes are around the corner for those of you that are headed to Tampa International Airport from St. Petersburg on northbound Interstate 275!

For many years, you used Exit 39A to reach Kennedy Blvd. (FL 60) and Tampa or Exit 39B to reach Tampa International Airport as well as Clearwater or the Veterans Expressway. Well, on 7 September 2010 that’s going to change.

Recently the Florida DOT has made improvements to the off ramp system for Exit 39 from northbound Interstate 275. The new improvements call for traffic headed to either Kennedy Blvd. or Tampa International Airport to exit from one point which will be further west of where you used to exit for Kennedy Blvd. (Exit 39A). Once you enter the new exit ramp you will be presented with a choice for either Kennedy Blvd. (which will branch off to the right) or Tampa International Airport (which will be straight ahead).

What does this mean for you?

This will organize all traffic on northbound Interstate 275 headed for either Kennedy Blvd. and nearby Westshore Plaza or Tampa International Airport, rather than have traffic leave Interstate 275 at two exit points within Exit 39. It’s sort of a collector and distributor ramp in that the collector part is traffic exiting from Interstate 275 northbound and the distributor part is traffic headed to either Kennedy Blvd. or Tampa International Airport. Doesn’t that make sense?

When the new ramp opens, the A/B designations will no longer be in effect and Exit 39 from northbound Interstate 275 will be known as just that, Exit 39. As for the page on Interstate275Florida.com, I’ll be making the updates as soon as the exit ramp is fully open to traffic.

Now I want to hear from you about the new northbound on Interstate 275 at Exit 39 experience. Is it a change for the better or is it confusing?