Two roads leading into the future home of the Tampa Bay Rays are about to get a lot wider. Transportation planners in Hillsborough County approved a road-widening package this week that would turn Tampa Bay Boulevard and Air Cargo Road into four-lane corridors, part of the groundwork being laid ahead of the team's planned new stadium.
What the Widening Project Covers
The package, approved Wednesday, would widen Tampa Bay Boulevard to four lanes between Dale Mabry Highway and Lois Avenue, including a new intersection built specifically for the stadium entrance, according to WUSF. Air Cargo Road would likewise be widened to four lanes between Tampa Bay Boulevard and West Ohio Avenue. The station reported the vote approved a $10 million package.
The project also calls for modifications to the Lois Avenue roundabout and new traffic signals at the currently unsignalized intersection of Tampa Bay Boulevard and Air Cargo Road, as well as at the proposed stadium entrance itself, per a Hillsborough transportation planning document. That same document notes the upgrades are meant to accommodate the increase in traffic volume anticipated to be generated by the proposed new stadium once it's up and running.
Cost Estimates Vary Across Reports
Exactly how much the work will cost depends on who's counting. The planning document programs $10,283,642 in construction funding for fiscal year 2027, while the Tampa Bay Business Journal described the Tampa Bay Boulevard improvements as a $10.3 million project. The station's report pegged the overall package at $10 million. Funding would come from the National Highway Performance Program along with state transportation dollars, the same report notes.
Construction is expected to start in 2027, according to the planning document. 10 Tampa Bay reported that county officials approved road-widening projects for the new Rays stadium.
A Bigger Price Tag Looms Nearby
The road package is a small fraction of the money tied up in the stadium project overall. The proposed indoor ballpark is estimated to cost $2.36 billion, with the city and county contributing no more than $876 million combined and the Rays covering more than $1.3 billion along with any cost overruns, per the same WUSF report. That stadium is expected to open in 2029, the Business Journal reported.
For now, the road improvements represent one of the more concrete, dollars-and-cents steps toward getting the area ready for what the team and local governments hope will be a bustling new ballpark district. The planned improvements include work on Tampa Bay Boulevard between Dale Mabry Highway and Lois Avenue.
