Tampa connectivity projects progressing

The Florida port says that key road and rail upgrade projects are well under way

Construction is underway on the Tampa Gateway Rail project, adjacent to the port’s container terminal, and on the I-4 Connector project, which includes a dedicated truck ramp that will link truck traffic from the port directly to the interstate highway system.

The new Tampa Gateway Rail facility, a multipurpose rail terminal that will provide capacity for 100-car unit trains of ethanol arriving from the US Midwest and also establish Florida’s only on-dock unit train rail service to the port’s container terminal, is due for completion this autumn.

The Tampa Port Authority’s major partners in the US.9M development, which will boast 13,244ft of rail trackage, are CSX Rail and Kinder Morgan.

The I-4 Crosstown Connector road project should be completed towards the end of 2013 Construction is now over 60% complete on the project, a US8M priority transportation initiative of the Florida Department of Transportation that will provide seamless direct access between the Port of Tampa, Interstate 4 and the national interstate highway system.