Has anyone recently been on I-75 southbound from Tampa/St.Pete toward Naples? Is it true that there's a stretch where southbound traffic has to get off it because of some road damage from an accident? Is the detour bad enough that I should just take 41 south from 275? Will be there next Tuesday.

(Yes, heading back to Mom Duty in Sarasota again.)

I saw on the news this morning where a tanker went over an overpass and landed on the highway below. It was a very firey accident. They did not state that the road was closed, but from what I saw on TV, I don't see how the road could not be damaged.

Cassandra I just googled I75 tanker crash Bradenton and found several stories. They are shutting down the southbound bridge and re-routing to the northbound. So yes definitely a detour. Hopefully, it will be flowing better when you are travelling.

Cassandra, I-75, southbound from 301 to 64, is indeed closed at least through the weekend. The suggested detour is to take Exit 228, which is the northbound 275 exit, then take 41 to 64 and back to I-75. expect two- to three-hour delays.

It's going to take at least 6 weeks to properly repair the highway, but they're trying to put a temporary fix in that will allow them to reopen southbound lanes along what is now the northbound-only bridge, in time for rush hour Monday.

Good luck!

Thanks.

Sighhhhh.

Looking at maps -- I'm coming from the TPA airport and usually come down 275 across the Skyway bridge. (Seems like NewbE's directions assume I'm coming down 75 from downtown Tampa.) Am I right in thinking that from 275, what I might oughta do is exit onto Rte. 19 (have no idea what exit # that is) and connect down to 41 and then go back to 75 via 64? Bad idea?

Wondering if there's a current-traffic website for the Bradenton area I could check Monday night to see if there's any hope it's been opened up. What a mess.

Hi again!
Yes, you're right, from the airport, exit off 275 onto US19 and then take 19 to US41, then 64 east and back to I-75.

But: by Monday night this might look totally different. They are now saying that 75 will be open again Monday morning, albeit with only two narrow lanes in either direction--so it will be sloooow.

Check this out for updates:
http://www.bradenton.com/local/story/658956.html

Tenkyou -- Will watch that website. Arrive at TPA at 8:30 so likely to be getting on the road ca. 9:30 or so. Hope I'll hit that "doughnut hole" after morning rush, but believe me, I'm not counting on it.

Stay tuned.

Crossing fingers for you! We were actually thinking of driving down to Sarasota this Saturday just for fun, but now, I think not. Still, it really may be OK by Monday. According to today's St. Pete Times, this morning's rush was a hot mess.

http://www.fl511.com/default.html
Check the crawl across the top of the screen for the latest info, Cassandra. I've also heard of a possible Monday opening. Good luck with your Mom.

cassandra

For what it's worth when we fly into Tampa we always take 275 around to the south, then Rt 19, and finally Rt 41. It's really not that slow of a route but probably a bit slower with this tanker problem.