It is now very easy to travel from Tampa to the Pinellas peninsula.
All I have to do is to get into your car, hit the highway, and cross a bridge.
Before this bridge was built, getting to Pinellas peninsula was either by sea or a long-distance drive.
How many bridges cross Tampa Bay? We have four iconic bridges that cross Tampa Bay.
How Many Bridges Cross Tampa Bay?
Tampa Bay has 4 bridges that run across it.
They are the Courtney Campbell Causeway, the Howard Frankland Bridge, the Gandy Bridge, and the Sunshine Skyway.
Here are what to know about these bridges:
The Bridges of Hillsborough County
Life became easier for the residents of Tampa Bay because of the bridges.
Without the bridges, it would have been very difficult to travel to the Pinellas peninsula from the Florida peninsula.
We learn to appreciate the value of the bridges to us whenever they are closed because of weather or vehicle accident.
Let us look at these bridges in detail.
Courtney Campbell Causeway
Courtney Campbell Causeway is the bridge that crosses Tampa Bay at the extreme north side of the bay.
The bridge carries State Road 60 between the bay and Clearwater.
The contract to build the bridge was given to Davis’ dredging company to fill the bay and construct the causeway.
He finished building the bridge in1934.
A distance of about 30 miles overland route was shortened to about 10 miles by the causeway.
Following this route saves motorists a lot of time.
From the time it was opened for use a toll of 25-cent was charged per vehicle to use the bridge.
The present value of this money is $5.25.
The federal government of America bought over the bridge in 1944.
Later, the federal government transferred ownership of the bridge to the state of Florida.
Phenomenal Florida Fun Fact: When the construction of the Causeway was completed it was named Davis Causeway.
Later in 1948, its name was changed to the name of a Florida state senator who championed a movement for road improvement and beautification along the causeway.
A lot of people were against the change of name.
They saw it as a replacement for the legacy of Ben T.
Davis, a visionary well-connected politician.
Presently the causeway is a route a lot of people have come to know.
There is a boat ramp and beach access on either side of the causeway.
In memory of the man who first envisioned the bridge, Ben T.
Davis, the Tampa-side beach was named Ben T.
Davis Beach.
There is a trail on the causeway through which bicyclists and pedestrians stroll or cycle across the bay.
The good news is that there was no more payment of tolls on the bridge some years later.
Now you pay nothing to drive through the causeway.
Howard Frankland Bridge
Howard Frankland Bridge is located on the south side of Florida.
It was named Howard Frankland Bridge in memory of the businessman who proposed it.
The bridge is a link between the popular ever-busy Interstate 275, running from Tampa city to St.
Petersburg.
It is the bridge that records the highest rate of traffic across the bay.
As of now, each side of Howard Frankland bridge has four lanes of traffic, giving a total of eight lanes.
The eight lanes are about three miles each, end-to-end.
The history of Howard Frankland is very beautiful.
The bridge was opened in 1960 with a total of four lanes.
The quality of the bridge was substandard.
There were no emergency shoulders on the bridge.
The separating median between the northbound and southbound traffic was found to be below standard.
Motor vehicle accidents were recorded on the bridge regularly, so the citizens had to come up with calls on the government to improve the bridge.
In answer to the call of the people, DOT expanded the bridge.
It constructed an additional four-lane span that is parallel to the existing one.
The old bridge had to become the northbound span, and all of its four lanes run in the same direction.
It was in 1999 the southbound span was completed.
It is longer than the old one, and the deck is lower than that of the old bridge too.
There is no active reconstruction work going on in the bridge but the state Department of Transportation is always busy working on its feeder roads on either end of it.
This work will continue until any time in the future.
NOTE: Many drivers see Howard Frankland as a speedway, even though the Florida Highway Patrol regularly patrols it.
A lot of drivers drive aggressively on the bridge.
It has been a race course for local street racers.
Be very careful to protect yourself when crossing it.
Gandy Bridge
To connect to Selmon Expressway, you have to pay $0.95 with SunPass or $1.35 with toll-by-plate.
Gandy Bridge connects the Tampa city to St.
Pete at the extreme south.
The locals call the bridge Gandy.
There have been some changes that have taken place on the bridge within the past years.
There is no component in the old bridge in the one standing there today.
It was a businessman called George Gandy, and his partner Walter Fuller that came up with the idea of building the bridge in 1910 while looking for a better route they would take to Tampa city from St.
Pete.
For some time, Gandy’s plans were derailed by World War I, but he started to promote the idea again in 1922.
This made the construction of the bridge take two years to be completed.
In 1924 it was opened for use.
It has a length of 2.5 miles, and the deck height is 75 feet, with a draw bridge.
The bridge became outdated in 1947.
Just like the way it was done on Howard Frankland bridge, parallel to the old bridge a new one was built.
All westbound traffics now started using the new bridge.
The old bridge continued to serve the eastbound traffics.
Sunshine Skyway
This is the fourth bridge, although it does not get to Tampa city, it spans Tampa Bay.
The bridge linked St.
Pete to Terra Ceia.
Its length is more than the length of the other bridges.
Its deck is 190 feet high, and it has a total span of about 4.14 miles.
In 1954 the Sunshine Skyway opened to traffic with great excitement.
The old bridge was 150 feet above the bay with double lanes of traffic.
In 1969 these lanes of traffic were expanded, and the new span was opened to traffic in 1971.
There was no significant thing that happened within the nine years that followed, but tragedy struck Sunshine Skyway in 1971.
FAQs
What are the 3 bridges over Tampa Bay?
The center bridge out of the three bridges over Tampa Bay is the Howard Frankland Bridge.
It runs from St.
Petersburg city to Tampa city, all in Florida.
It is among the three bridges that connect Hillsborough city and Pinellas city.
The other two are Gandy Bridge and Courtney Campbell Causeway.
How many bridges are in Tampa?
There are 45 Vehicular Bridges, and 3 Pedestrian Bridges belonging to and operated by Tampa city.
What is the Skyway bridge known for?
The construction of the Skyway bridge was completed in 1987.
It is the longest cable-stayed concrete bridge in the world today.
It is the most popular of the many cable-stayed bridges so far built in America since the late 1970s.
