Tampa officials unveiled a 30-year plan for road improvements in the city on Tuesday.
The goal of the initiative called Tampa MOVES is to connect neighborhoods, manage congestion and increase safety for bikers and pedestrians throughout the city.
The plan will be carried out in conjunction with the city’s efforts to eliminate all fatal and serious injury crashes, Mayor Jane Castor said.
Tampa is among the least safe regions when it comes to crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
More road crossings, sidewalks, and bike lanes will be added under the plan. It also includes repairs for damaged roads and offers relief to streets that are congested with traffic.
The total cost of the projects is $2 billion.
"It is worth every penny if we can achieve these transportation solutions," Castor said. "Most importantly, making sure our community is safe on our roadways and then also ensuring that we're connecting people to places that they need to be.”
Tampa MOVES is a culmination of more than two years of community input and focus group meetings, along with surveys from stakeholders.
One of the biggest weaknesses pointed out by businesses was access to workplaces, said Mobility Director Vik Bhide.
"It's not just access to jobs, but access to food for the lower income communities and access to recreation for the rest of us and access to other services for the seniors and children within our community as well," he said.
Priority will be given to projects that will have the greatest impact, Bhide said. That includes the repaving of 109 miles of city road sections and building new sidewalks.
