If you were getting anxious about Saturday’s planned, 16-hour closure of Tampa Bay’s Howard Frankland Bridge, fret no more.
The Florida Department of Transportation says the closure originally set for Jan. 9 is postponed because of a delay in equipment delivery.
The closure of the bridge was supposed to start at 8 p.m. Saturday, but now FDOT it will wait until next weekend, Saturday Jan. 16 to actually close the bridge so that the Fourth Street North bridge over Interstate 275—a smaller part of the bridge at the southern end—can be removed.
Late this morning the closure was officially postponed from happening this coming weekend (Jan 9.). Details just now worked out and rescheduled to take place next Saturday night (Jan. 16) instead. Hope this helps!
— FDOT District 7 (@MyFDOT_Tampa) January 7, 2021
"All I-275 travel lanes on the Howard Frankland Bridge will close from 8 p.m. Saturday, January 16 until noon Sunday, January 17, weather permitting," FDOT wrote in an update release. "Electronic message boards and temporary signage will assist I-275 northbound and southbound motorists traveling around this closure via the posted detour route using Roosevelt Boulevard, Gandy Boulevard, and Dale Mabry Highway."
The released added that on Jan. 16—the new closure date for the bridge—"Other roadways (Roosevelt Boulevard, Bayside Bridge, Courtney Campbell Causeway, and Memorial Highway) will remain accessible and may provide an alternate route if needed."
So yeah, for now, feel free to weave in and out of traffic like an asshole, or drive 40 miles an hour in the left lane over on the Howie-Franklin, y’all (that’s a joke).
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This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2021.