Site selected for transportation center in Westshore
By Yvette C. Hammett | Tribune Staff
Tampa Tribune
Published: Jun 25, 2014

A string of parcels hugging Interstate 275 in Tampa, including the current sites of the Double Tree hotel and Charley's Steak House, have been chosen as the recommended location for a new transportation center to serve buses, a people mover connecting to Tampa International Airport and possible future light rail.

The transportation center may also include commercial development. At present, there is no set funding or time frame for the Westshore Regional Multimodal Center, but the Florida Department of Transportation has set an open house for July 17 to get input on what the public would like to see at the new center.

The open house will take place at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, Westshore Room, 2225 N. Lois Ave., Tampa from 5 to 7 p.m. with a formal presentation at 6 p.m.

Ming Gao, FDOT's Intermodal Systems Development Manager, said the 9-acre site is being recommended because, of the four sites under consideration, it is the one closest to a platform that could accommodate light rail, the median on I-275. The project will involve timing, he said, since there are so many moving parts.

A people mover coming from Tampa International Airport, a possible light rail system connecting to Pinellas County, expanded bus service by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, construction of a new north span of the Howard Frankland Bridge and other projects all must be coordinated, he said.

And FDOT is seeking a partner in the private sector to help it develop the site, Gao said.

"This site...is also adjacent to Cypress Street, which is important because we want to make sure this center can connect to future transit coming from both directions, and including the airport, the median of 275 and local circulator buses in the area,” Gao said. "That seems to be the most ideal site.

"Also, there is the walking distance from the platform to transfer to other modes of transportation. Six hundred feet is probably the distance we are going to limit to, so when we looked at all the sites, that is the one we picked.”

Ann Kulig, Deputy Director of the Westshore Alliance, said her group would have been happy with any of the locations under consideration, all within the Westshore area. "Any of those sites absolutely makes sense to us,” since all four are close to I-275, she said.

Westshore Alliance is an active business group working to master plan the area for future growth. The Westshore area is defined as approximately 10 square miles on the western edge of Tampa, bounded by Kennedy Boulevard to the south, Himes Avenue to the east, Hillsborough Avenue to the north and Old Tampa Bay, including Rocky Point to the west. It is home to some 4,000 businesses with more than 93,000 employees, according to the Alliance.

Tampa International Airport Chief Executive Officer Joe Lopano said he, too, is happy with the recommended site. He said there is still much to be done to figure out how connections will be made from the airport, stops that could be made along the route and exactly how the people mover will connect with the new transit center, but it is all in the works. The people mover is included in the $1 billion first phase of the airport's new master plan.

"Any infrastructure investment that is made to support intermodal is a winner in our book,” Lopano said. "I think FDOT has moved swiftly and done its due diligence and I'm enthusiastic” about this plan.

Gao said his office is working on refining the cost for the new center and it is likely FDOT will have a better idea of the price tag some time after the public meeting July 17.

yhammett@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7127