It's been nearly 10 years since the downtown Tampa interchange was reconstructed, and for many drivers it's is still one of the hardest parts of their drive.
Bruce Britton drives a cab for a living and passes through the interchange multiple times a day. He says one of the biggest problems for traffic is the crossover on I-4 between Ybor City and the interchange.
"And by the time you actually get to I-275, you're almost getting into a wreck because nobody's letting them over and everybody's just trying to force their way over,” said Britton. “People from the right hand are trying to get to the left. It's just a major cross over."
In 2000 the average number of cars per day here was 164,000. The latest stats from 2013 show an increase 25,000 cars per day.
Prior to 2003, the downtown interchange was affectionately known as "Malfunction Junction." It's significantly better now, but with two exceptions--the ramp from southbound I-275 to eastbound I-4 being one of them.
Every morning, like clockwork the ramp backs up as traffic crawls from Hillsborough Avenue.
"It's just too much,” said Britton. “The volume of traffic for these roads to be handling right now."
The idea of more construction on I-275 brings tears to even the strongest. The new downtown interchange will need to be rebuilt again to handle Tampa’s downtown traffic.
It is going to be at least five years before that happens.
The state says once the reconstruction of the southbound lanes of I-275 from the Hillsborough River to Memorial Highway is complete, that will take a lot of the pressure off of the downtown interchange.
That project is scheduled to finish late next year.