Exit 41: Dale Mabry Highway/US 92 and
Himes Avenue
Himes Avenue
Continuing northbound on Interstate 275 through Tampa past Lois Avenue we pass through Dale Mabry Highway (also known as US 92) and Himes Avenue (for southbound Interstate 275 motorists). When this stretch of Interstate 275 was constructed in 1962 originally as a westward extension of Interstate 4, it used to be a 4-lane highway featuring full service entrance and exit at Dale Mabru Highway. Evidence of the segment being a 4-lane highway was apparent by looking at the original 1962 overpass pile caps. In the mid-1970’s this segment was widened to 6 lanes as part of a widening and modernization project to enhance capacity during the morning and evening commute.
Around 1995 a northbound entrance and southbound exit for Himes Avenue was constructed. Its primary purpose is to provide for expedited traffic flow for events taking place at Raymond James Stadium which was under construction at the time. Now that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are so popular with one Super Bowl victory to their credit; on any Buccaneers game day traffic gets congested not only on Interstate 275 but on Himes Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway leading towards the stadium.
Improvements were completed in 2016 to expand Interstate 275 from its 4 and 6 lanes to 8 lanes from Memorial Highway to the Ashley/Tampa Street complex next to downtown. The current 6 lane segment mentioned here is proposed to be expanded to 8 lanes as part of the proposed improvements. Tampa Bay Interstates (the Florida DOT site for Interstate construction in the Tampa Bay region) has more information on these improvements including graphics and photos; it’s worth a look!
MOTORIST CONFUSION ALERT: Although you may see US 92 East and West on the signage for Dale Mabry Highway, Dale Mabry is actually a north-south highway from US 41 south of Land O' Lakes to the main gate of MacDill AFB and Dale Mabry assumes several route numbers along the way. The section of Dale Mabry Highway carrying US 92 (an east-west cross Florida highway from 4 St N and 5 Av N in downtown St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach that pretty much predates Interstate 4) runs from Hillsborough Avenue to Gandy Boulevard.
Interstate 275 Southbound at Exit 41
Images shown are before and after the mega-reconstruction in 2016.
