On The Road: The widening of I-275 from the Howard Frankland to Ashley Drive began this week

TAMPA - The long-awaited widening of Interstate 275 from the Howard Frankland Bridge to Ashley Drive began this week with utility workers moving electrical lines to make room for the expanded highway.

Over the next six weeks, Tampa Electric workers will move transmission lines that span the interstate. The workers will be near Himes Avenue today.

Over eight years, I-275 will be widened from six lanes to eight. Also planned are frontage roads and a wide median to allow for further expansions or a rail line.

The first phase of road construction, northbound I-275 from Himes to Ashley, is expected to begin after Labor Day and be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.

Construction was supposed to begin last summer but was delayed when bids for the project were $100 million higher than the estimated $350 million cost.

The project is now divided into four construction phases, and its total cost is estimated at $540 million. High prices for oil, a component of asphalt, are mostly to blame for the escalating costs.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.