Drivers Can Use Express Lanes On Veterans Expressway On Saturday

TAMPA, FL - On Saturday, motorists on the Veterans Expressway will have an extra lane to use in each direction between Hillsborough Avenue and Gunn Highway. Drivers can use the express lanes both northbound and southbound at no extra charge.

The available express lanes extend for six miles in both directions. Drivers can enter northbound at Hillsborough Avenue with the first accessible exit at Gunn Highway. Customers traveling southbound can enter at Gunn Highway with the first accessible exit at SR 60.

But officials with Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise advise that drivers can enter and exit only at these designated locations and warn that motorists not cross over the express lane markers. Plastic poles separate the express lanes from other lanes of the roadway. An inside shoulder is provided for emergency purposes.

Drivers can travel in the new lanes paying only the regular toll amount and must have an active and properly mounted SunPass or other transponder. Cash or Toll-By- Plate is not accepted in the express lanes and only two-axle vehicles are permitted.

The section of the express lane project from Gunn Highway to the Dale Mabry Highway is expected to open in the spring of 2018.

When the project is completed, drivers will have to pay an additional amount to use the express lanes. That amount has not been set yet and it will fluctuate. The toll will increase or decrease depending on the amount of congestion/traffic in the other lanes. More traffic, the higher the cost. Overhead signs will display the toll amounts prior to the express lanes entrance giving customers time to choose whether or not to use the express lanes, a Turnpike official said.

The reconstruction of the Veterans Expressway includes additional capacity, conversion to all electronic toll collection, interchange/intersection improvements, and other roadway safety and aesthetic enhancements.

Image via Florida's Turnpike Enterprise