Final Routes for Light Rail Line Shaping Up

The final route for a possible light rail line is shaping up - if Hillsborough County voters pass a one-cent sales tax referendum in November.

Planners have narrowed the possible route for Hillsborough County's first light rail line, which has to await the results of a referendum on election day.

The first leg - connecting downtown Tampa to USF's main campus - would run along three roads: 30th Street, 22nd Street or along Interstate 275. And the next leg, between downtown and Tampa International Airport, would either along Cypress Street, Cleveland Street or Platt Street, or in the median of the newly-widened Interstate.

David Armijo is executive director of Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit, which is conducting the study.

"We're very confident, very positive that there's good opportunities," he said. "We've had positive meetings with the Federal Transit Administration on this process, so we hope to try to bring this to conclusion, certainly this summer."

Armijo told members of the Tampa Bay Area Transportation Authority that there are possible stumbling blocks on the next phase, which would go north from USF to Wesley Chapel in Pasco County. A planned widening of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to eight lanes could take up space in the center median needed for a rail line.

Click HERE to view the possible routes.