Columbus Drive - Tampa

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Columbus Drive connects the MacFarlane Park, Ridgewood Park and Tampa Heights neighborhoods between U.S. 92 (Dale Mabry Highway) / SR 616 and U.S. 41 Business (Tampa Street / Florida Avenue). Passing below the Downtown Interchange joining Interstates 4 and 275, Columbus Drive extends east into VM Ybor, paralleling I-4 to Jackson Heights. Through the North Ybor community, Columbus Drive flows eastbound with one-way traffic. A combination of 19th Avenue, 18th Avenue, 29th Place and 17th Avenue carries westbound traffic to the north.

Construction to expand I-4 to six lanes in the early 2000s included realigning Columbus Drive at U.S. 41 (North 50th Street) to accommodate the wider foot print of the freeway. Columbus Drive loops south through the exchange, before resuming eastward to merge with Broadway Avenue (CR 574) south of Orient Park.

Columbus Drive - East

Columbus Drive eastbound at Tampa Street (U.S. 41 Business south) in Tampa Heights. Tampa Street provides a direct route to Downtown.

03/15/14

Florida Avenue carries U.S. 41 Business north from Downtown through Tampa Heights and ultimately to Lutz.

03/15/14

Passing under Interstate 275 at the north edge of the Downtown Interchange with I-4 along Columbus Drive east. There is no direct access to the freeway network here.

03/15/14

Now within the VM Ybor neighborhood, Columbus Drive emerges from below I-275 to intersect Nebraska Avenue. Nebraska Avenue doubles as SR 45 south to Downtown and north to Hillsborough Avenue at Southeast Seminole Heights.

03/15/14

Columbus Drive forms a couplet with the combination of 17th, 18th and 19th Avenues and North 29th Place west through East Tampa and the Ybor City vicinity. The split occurs eastbound at North 14th Street here.

03/15/14

North 15th Street forms a through street couplet with 14th Street from Ybor City northward to Ybor Heights.

03/15/14

21st and 22nd Streets comprise a one way pair through Historic Ybor City to the south and to East 22nd Avenue to the north. The through streets are a part of SR 585.

03/15/14

Columbus Drive becomes a two-way boulevard again east of SR 569 (North 40th Street)and just ahead of this traffic light.

01/18/14

Columbus Drive veers southward to meet ramps with Interstate 4. The roadway originally remained due east. Construction to modernize and widen the freeway resulted on the relocation of Columbus Drive onto a new four lane boulevard to the south.

01/18/14

Interstate 4 leads back west to Ybor City and the Downtown Interchange with Interstate 275.

01/18/14

A left side ramp from I-4 eastbound forms a service road east from Columbus Drive to both U.S. 41 (North 50th Street) and the return ramp for Lakeland and Orlando.

01/18/14

Columbus Drive arcs southeast to intersect U.S. 41 (North 50th Street) directly. The US highway provides another opportunity to access both I-4 east and west nearby.

04/27/15

U.S. 41 (North 50th Street) travels southward from Melbourne Boulevard and the Highland Pines community of Tampa as an industrial arterial to Palm River.

04/27/15

Columbus Drive - West

Vintage signals formerly used along Columbus Drive west at Ridgewood Avenue. Ridgewood Avenue angles southeast to Ridgewood Park and northwest to Kinyon Avenue in Riverside Heights.

05/08/06

Columbus Drive spans the Hillsborough River across this draw bridge to the Bowman Heights community.

05/08/06

A pony truss lines the 103 foot long bobtail swing section of the Hillsborough River bridge on Columbus Drive. This span was constructed in 1926 and rebuilt in 2011.

05/08/06