THEA and county staff outline toll‑road benefits and next steps for Riverview community plan update

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) and county planning staff updated the Hillsborough County board on Sept. 17 about a planned toll facility along U.S. Highway 301 and concurrent updates to the Riverview Community Plan.

THEA’s findings: Greg Slater, THEA executive director and CEO, said preliminary modeling shows a limited‑access toll corridor could increase corridor capacity by about 30 percent and cut intersection delays by roughly 33–46 percent in modeled scenarios. Slater offered trip‑time examples from the project’s mobility analysis: under a no‑build scenario, a morning trip from Big Bend Road to the expressway entrance could take about 77 minutes; with the express lanes, that same trip could be 15 minutes or less in peak conditions, the presentation said. Slater emphasized collaboration with FDOT, the county, and plan Hillsborough for the environmental and project development process.

Safety data: THEA’s analysis identified 25 fatalities along the corridor over a five‑year period, including three pedestrian and one bicyclist fatality, and found rear‑end, sideswipe and left‑turn crashes predominate at intersections. Slater said the project’s design and limited‑access model aim to reduce those collision types by shortening peak hour congestion and removing through‑trips from local business access roads.

Riverview Community Plan: Jay Collins of the county Planning Commission described the ongoing plan update process that began in February 2024. The Riverview area has grown to more than 100,000 residents within the plan boundary. Collins said the community plan does not itself allocate funding but sets priorities; staff will not propose land‑use or zoning changes without additional community engagement. Staff announced additional public workshops in October (virtual Oct. 9, in‑person Oct. 11 and Oct. 14) to gather feedback before drafting any comprehensive plan amendments.

Board action and next steps: The board received the updates and asked staff and THEA to continue public outreach and environmental/process work for the project’s PD&E (project development and environment) phase. Commissioners expressed support for seeking relief from congestion and emphasized minimizing business impacts, reducing noise, protecting neighborhoods and ensuring federal financing eligibility through the PD&E process. The board voted to receive the report.

Ending note: THEA staff said the PD&E phase will take about one year and will present formal alignments, entrance/exit concepts and environmental documentation; county staff said the Riverview plan update will return for public hearings in 2026 after additional engagement.