State to spend $814 million on Tampa-St. Pete bridge

TAMPA — Florida is preparing to pay almost a billion dollars to build a new bridge connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The Tampa Bay Times reported the state expects to pay $814 million for a new eight-lane Howard Frankland Bridge that will be used as a partial expansion of the old one.

The 3-mile bridge will include four southbound lanes from Tampa to St. Petersburg, two express toll lanes in each direction and a bike and pedestrian trail. The four current southbound lanes will be flipped and now will go northbound from St. Petersburg to Tampa.

The contract will be bid later this year. Construction is scheduled to start in 2020 with the bridge opening in 2024.