Howard Frankland Bridge

W. Howard Frankland Bridge
Eastbound traffic toward Tampa in 2005
Coordinates	27°55′41″N 82°35′15″W / 27.92793°N 82.58755°W / 27.92793; -82.58755Coordinates: 27°55′41″N 82°35′15″W / 27.92793°N 82.58755°W / 27.92793; -82.58755
Carries	I-275
Crosses	Old Tampa Bay
Locale	St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	150107 (northbound) 150210 (southbound)
Characteristics
Total length	15,872 feet (4,838 m) (northbound) 15,900 feet (4,846 m) (southbound)
Width	58.4 feet (17.8 m) (northbound) 68.9 feet (21.0 m) (southbound)
Clearance below	43.0 feet (13.1 m) (northbound) 48.9 feet (14.9 m) (southbound)
History
Opened	1960 (northbound) 1990 (southbound)
Statistics
Daily traffic	135,000

The W. Howard Frankland Bridge is the central bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. It is one of three bridges connecting Hillsborough County and Pinellas County; the others being Gandy Bridge and Courtney Campbell Causeway. The bridge carries Interstate 275 and is by far the most traveled of the bay's bridges.

The bridge is often incorrectly referred to as the Howard Franklin Bridge.

Named for the man who proposed it, Tampa businessman Howard Frankland, the bridge opened in April 1960 and carried four lanes (two lanes in each direction separated by a short, narrow barrier). The bridge and approaches cost $16 million.

Because of the bridge's design, including its lack of emergency shoulders, it proved to be dangerous. Accidents were common on the bridge and traffic backed up on both sides, leading to local nicknames, the "Howard Frankenstein Bridge" and "The Car-Strangled Spanner". In 1962, a steel-reinforced tapered concrete barrier was installed "to prevent cars from hurtling the median and crashing into oncoming traffic." Ten people had already died. The bridge was the subject of a 60 Minutes broadcast in the 1960s noting the below-average construction methods used.

Planning for a larger-capacity replacement began in 1978. Original plans ranged from a large, multi-lane suspension (or similar type) bridge, to two parallel bridges (with the central span reserved for HOV lanes). As traffic projections increased, further exacerbated by a disaster on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 1980, it was clear that the new bridge would need to handle at least eight lanes (four in each direction). By 1987, it was concluded that a parallel, four lane span would be built. Plans were also made to rehabilitate the older bridge after the new bridge opened.

Construction began on the new span in 1988. The new $54 million southbound span was opened to traffic in 1990. The older bridge was then closed, rehabilitated, and reopened in 1992. The older northbound span is shorter and has a steeper hump than the newer southbound span.