On Tuesday, October 1, 2019, the Florida Department of Transportation presented information on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the Tampa Interstate Study (TIS) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Hillsborough MPO Board. FDOT will recommend the LPA to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can view the materials presented at the links below.

Fly Through Video of the I-275/I-4 Interchange Locally Preferred Alternative

Video of the I-275/I-4 Interchange Locally Preferred Alternative

FDOT is currently working with the Federal Highway Administration to conduct a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to determine the preferred alternative for improving our interstate system. In its planning phase, this process serves as a community conversation and planning effort on the future of our region’s interstate system and how it integrates with multimodal choices under development across our region.

NEPA requires agencies that receive Federal funding assistance to prepare an environmental impact statements (EIS) for major actions that significantly affect the quality of the human environment. An EIS is a full disclosure document that details the process through which a transportation project was developed, includes consideration of a range of reasonable alternatives, analyzes the potential impacts resulting from the alternatives, and demonstrates compliance with other applicable environmental laws and executive orders. The study is a supplement to the1996 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Records of Decision (ROD) that FHWA issued in 1997 and 1999.  This EIS process is the most rigorous evaluation we can do in transportation planning. FDOT and FHWA are scheduled to complete the SEIS in early 2020. The SEIS will focus on the Downtown and Westshore Area interchanges and the section of I-275 between those areas. The SEIS is a fresh look at the long-standing plan to improve and modernize Tampa’s interstate system, originally called the Tampa Interstate Study.

The analysis for the SEIS will use the most current demographic, economic, and transportation data and design plans to evaluate environmental and social impacts to communities, including impacts such as noise, air quality, socioeconomic and environmental justice issues. The SEIS will include an alternatives analysis and mitigation strategy development where impacts are unavoidable.

FDOT is holding public meetings and workshops related to the analysis of impacts of the Downtown and Westshore sections of interstate improvements. FDOT is committed to open and transparent dialogue with the community throughout the process. We welcome your comments and participation.

The Tampa Interstate Study (TIS) Cultural Resources Committee (CRC) includes federal, state and local agencies and consulting parties and was established in the early 1990s to assist in the evaluation of potential project related effects to significant historic and archaeological resources and to assist in developing mitigation for adverse effects created by interstate improvements within the TIS EIS limits. Since 1998, the TIS CRC has also been overseeing the implementation of the Stipulations outlined in the TIS Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was approved in 1996 to mitigate adverse effects.

On October 9 and 10, 2017 the Florida Department of Transportation held a Tampa Interstate Study (TIS) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) Public Workshop to review and discuss Downtown Tampa Interchange concepts, Westshore Interchange concepts and Northwest (Veterans) Expressway design changes.

If you were unable to join us for these SEIS public workshops, you can view the display boards and other documents displayed at the workshops at the links provided below.

For more information about the TIS Cultural Resources Committee (CRC), contact Elaine Illes via email at elaine@totalinvolvement.com

Click here to see the history of the TIS and access historical documents related to the original EIS.

For more information about the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) visit http://tampainterstatestudy.com/

Project Coordination and Public Involvement Plan

A Project Coordination and Public Involvement Plan has been developed for this Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Section 4(f) Evaluation. The document prepared September 2017 can be accessed by following this link.

Purpose and Need

A Purpose and Need document drafted September 2017 is available for review and comment for this Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Section 4(f) Evaluation. The document can be accessed by following this link. Comments on this document should be sent to the project contacts listed below.

The project team is developing additional information concerning this project and the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Section 4(f) Evaluation process. That information will be posted on this website as it is developed.