FDOT kicks off PD&E study for Courtney Campbell Causeway; water quality and resiliency top public concerns

The Florida Department of Transportation on Oct. 8 presented the kickoff for a project development and environment (PD&E) study of State Road 60 / Courtney Campbell Causeway, a roughly 9.4-mile corridor that stretches from McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater east to just west of the Veterans Expressway in Tampa.

Craig Fox, FDOT project manager, said the study will evaluate structural needs (the oldest structures on the corridor are more than 50 years old), safety improvements, corridor resiliency against flooding and storm damage, traffic capacity up to the design year 2050, and potential water-quality measures such as additional openings to improve tidal flushing. Fox said the corridor currently carries traffic volumes and has a crash rate (expressed in vehicle-miles-traveled) about 2.7 times the statewide average for comparable facilities; the highest crash frequencies are concentrated near Dr. Curran Patel Boulevard, the boat ramp entrance, and Rocky Point Drive, where pedestrian and bicycle crashes are also a concern.

Fox said the PD&E began in June 2025. Data collection is ongoing, a kickoff public meeting took place Sept. 4 (in-person with online materials), and FDOT plans to prepare documents through 2026 with a public hearing in 2026 and study approval anticipated in 2027. At the September kickoff FDOT staff reported 48 attendees and 40 comments (one additional mailed comment), with about 59 percent of commenters citing water quality as a concern; petroleum enhancements and Dana Shores flooding were also noted themes.

Board members and local officials at the Forward Pinellas meeting asked technical questions about lighting, storm-related sand and debris, tree loss along the shared-use path and the department’s structural inspection process. Fox said lighting considerations typically are addressed in later design phases but that design concepts accommodate space for lighting; sand nourishment and tree restoration efforts fall under operations or other immediate response programs rather than the PD&E scope; and that FDOT’s bridge office conducts structural assessments and is coordinating repairs and assessments for corridor structures.

Ford Pinellas executive director Whit Blanton (identified on the record) said the City of Clearwater has a Cooper’s Point master plan and raised the potential for coordinating a small strategic plan to tie water-quality, trailhead and amenity ideas to the PD&E study and an adjacent State Road 60 corridor study. Blanton said the city is interested in flushing and infiltration work for Cooper’s Bayou and that a city-owned water treatment facility on the southwest quadrant is anticipated to be decommissioned long term, creating redevelopment opportunities.

Why it matters: the causeway is a regional evacuation route and a multimodal corridor with a continuous shared-use path. FDOT said the study will weigh replacement vs. continued maintenance via life-cycle cost analysis, and will include environmental reviews covering wetlands, noise and contamination.

Timeline (as stated by FDOT): study began June 2025; public kickoff Sept. 4; data collection ongoing; draft documents and public hearing in 2026; study approval in 2027.

Speakers on this item included Craig Fox (FDOT project manager), Mayor Freaney (comment on ribbon-cutting earlier in the meeting) and Whit Blanton (Forward Pinellas executive director). Several board members and local elected officials asked questions during the presentation.