I-4 and I-275 in Tampa: What Is Being Built and When It Ends

I-4 and I-275 meet at the Downtown Tampa Interchange beside Ybor City, where FDOT is making safety and operational improvements in a $227.5 million project that began in fall 2023 and is expected to finish in spring 2027 (FDOT Tampa Bay).

The contractor is The Lane Construction Corporation, and the official name is the Downtown Tampa Interchange (I-275/I-4) Safety and Operational Improvements, FDOT project 445057-1-52-01. FDOT folded three project numbers, 445057-1, 445056-1 and 445056-2, into this single construction contract, so every update and closure alert for the downtown Tampa ramps is posted on one project page (FDOT Tampa Bay).

The project is a set of targeted ramp and lane fixes, not a full rebuild of the interchange. It concentrates on these downtown Tampa movements: southbound I-275 to eastbound I-4, westbound I-4 to both directions of I-275, the Ybor City exits and the I-275 exit into downtown. The project page lists two FDOT contacts for the project, 813-975-6204 for project information and 813-975-6060 for media, and lets drivers sign up for email alerts and closures (FDOT Tampa Bay).

When the downtown Tampa work is finished, the busiest I-4 and I-275 ramps will gain lanes, and the eastbound I-4 exit to Ybor City will move from 21st/22nd Streets to 14th/15th Streets (FDOT Tampa Bay).

Every entry in the table comes from FDOT's description of the downtown interchange improvements (FDOT Tampa Bay). For eastbound drivers bound for Ybor City, the exit moves west to 14th/15th Streets, so they will leave I-4 before reaching the old 21st/22nd Streets exit.

The merge lane on northbound I-275 is built to the west of the current alignment, between I-4 and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exit, and the southbound I-275 exit into downtown Tampa also shifts west (FDOT Tampa Bay). Those two changes pair with the lanes FDOT already added north of downtown in 2025, described below.

By August 2026, FDOT reported the steel girders over Nebraska Avenue, the pavement for the new Ybor City exit from northbound I-275 and the bridge decks over Palm Avenue all 100% complete (FDOT Tampa Bay).

The same August 2026 report lists 96% of utilities relocated, 91% of old storm drainage pipes removed, 89% of new major drainage pipes installed, 85% of the mechanically stabilized earth walls built and 85% of the new Intelligent Transportation Systems fiber installed, with lighting and signals at 14th and 15th Streets in progress (FDOT Tampa Bay). The items still short of 100% in that report are utilities, drainage, walls, fiber and the 14th and 15th Streets lighting and signals.

Lane closures for the downtown interchange are scheduled at night between 9 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., and interstate ramps may occasionally close between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. (FDOT Tampa Bay). Heavy machinery works day and night, and FDOT warns of noise, vibration and bright lights after dark, which matters to residents living next to the ramps.

For a late-night trip through the interchange, the practical step is to check before leaving. FL511, Florida's official source for real-time traffic information, lists traffic incidents, cameras, message signs and construction information for the Tampa Bay region (FL511), and the FDOT project page posts closures and takes email sign-ups for alerts (FDOT Tampa Bay).

On I-275 at Westshore, FDOT began rebuilding the I-275/SR 60 interchange in January 2026, starting with a $653.3 million Phase I contract held by Superior-Lane Joint Venture (FDOT Tampa Bay).

The construction limits run along I-275 from the Howard Frankland Bridge to east of Lois Avenue and along SR 60 from I-275 to north of Spruce Street. FDOT is delivering the job as a phased design-build, and the first phase, called Priority 1A, is under way (FDOT Tampa Bay).

Priority 1A builds northbound I-275 Express Lanes from the Howard Frankland Bridge to a future Reo Street Bridge, replaces the loop ramp from eastbound SR 60 to northbound I-275 with a flyover, and adds a flyover from the Howard Frankland Bridge to SR 60 and Tampa International Airport. It also adds a southbound I-275 entrance ramp from Reo Street and reconnects local streets at Reo Street, Occident Street and Trask Street under the interstate, with shared-use paths for walking and cycling (FDOT Tampa Bay).

Westshore drivers should expect a long job. FDOT says the future phases of the Westshore Interchange are scheduled for funding in 2030 and 2032 (FDOT Tampa Bay), so the full interchange will not be finished with Phase I. The project information line listed by FDOT is 813-975-3691.

The I-275 widening from north of I-4 to north of Hillsborough Avenue was finished on March 5, 2025, and the new Howard Frankland Bridge express lanes are open, with tolling since August 22, 2026 (FDOT Tampa Bay; FDOT Tampa Bay).

The completed I-275 job north of downtown Tampa covered 2.5 miles and cost $96.7 million. It added one lane in each direction within the existing right-of-way, built noise barrier walls, installed fencing and Intelligent Transportation System devices, and rebuilt the overpasses between Floribraska Avenue and Hillsborough Avenue (FDOT Tampa Bay). FDOT's project page now states that the project has been completed and keeps its information archived for reference (FDOT Tampa Bay).

West of Westshore, the Howard Frankland Bridge replacement carries I-275 across Old Tampa Bay. FDOT has opened new express lanes in the I-275 median from 4th Street North in St. Petersburg to just north of the bridge in Tampa; tolls are collected electronically 24 hours a day through the SunPass Prepaid Toll Program, and only passenger vehicles, registered vanpools and buses may use the lanes (FDOT Tampa Bay). The $973.4 million project lists late 2026 for completion, and a 12-foot-wide, barrier-separated shared-use path has opened along the north side of the bridge (FDOT Tampa Bay).

FDOT called the Howard Frankland Bridge replacement the largest transportation project ever delivered in its District 7; the new bridge opened to traffic in summer 2025 and, as built, increased capacity by 50% (FDOT news release, August 27, 2025). The same release announced the groundbreaking of the I-275 expansion on the Pinellas County side, which adds express lanes that flow into the bridge, while on the Tampa side the Westshore Interchange work continues, with its later phases scheduled for funding in 2030 and 2032.

Eastbound from downtown Tampa, I-4 links to the Selmon Expressway and the Port of Tampa through the I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector, a $421 million toll connector whose ribbon was cut on December 28, 2013 (Federal Highway Administration).

The connector used $222 million in federal-aid funding, including $105 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars. FHWA described it as a series of north-south toll ramps to and from I-4, the Selmon Expressway and 20th Street, providing a truck-only direct access route to the Port of Tampa and removing truck traffic from downtown Ybor City (FHWA).

The same release names the connector as an evacuation route for area residents in a hurricane and as an alternative route for commuters into downtown Tampa (FHWA). For Tampa drivers, that means a crash or closure on the downtown I-4 ramps leaves a tolled alternative route into downtown Tampa, and FL511 shows which route is moving before a trip (FL511).