Who plans your commute? How data shapes Hillsborough traffic and construction
By Gabriel Velasquez Neira
January 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM EST
Cars are a necessary form of transportation in Tampa and Hillsborough County. So who plans the roads?
Cars are everywhere.
They are featured on movie screens through franchises like “Cars” and “Fast and Furious,” and on television screens through sports like F1 and NASCAR.
And of course, vehicles are on the road every day as people travel to work, school, appointments or run errands.
But have you ever been driving and wondered, ‘Who is responsible for this road’s existence?’
Well, it turns out, as is often the case, it’s a mixed effort among city, county and state governments.
It’s valuable data transportation planners use to try to make traffic less insufferable.
Elizabeth Watkins is an executive planner with the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). She’s sitting in a high-rise office, and in front of her, on the computer, are purple, orange and beige lines, showing traffic data for the county.
Elizabeth Watkins, an executive planner with the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization, looks at a computer monitor displaying road data in the area. (5472x3648, AR: 1.5)
“ Maybe there’s a perception that projects just get picked out of nowhere,” said Watkins, “But there is a lot of analysis and hard work that goes behind looking at the system-level data and working with partners to take really conceptual, large-scale data and zeroing in on that problem.”
The data is compiled in a multitude of ways, ranging from high-tech to low-tech methods. However, the three main ones, according to Hillsborough TPO and the Florida Department of Transportation, are counting cars through traffic cameras, microwave sensors and rubber tubes.
“You will run over a parallel set of two black rubber tubes that are secured on either side of the roadway,” said Wade Reynolds, who’s also an executive planner with Hillsborough TPO. “And what those are doing is they’re blowing out little puffs of air into a machine that collects that data, and each puff or two puffs equates to a vehicle.”
Planners use the data to predict future traffic patterns.
“ Currently, we’re looking out to 2050 and looking at population growth, land use changes, and we do a lot of data analysis and community outreach, very importantly, to see what our community will need,” Watkins said.
To meet those needs, planners need funding for the projects, but there’s not always enough.
“We did an analysis, and we found that between 2030 and 2050, there were $47 billion worth of needs, but only $18 billion that we would expect to come to Hillsborough County through 2050,” Watkins said.
Still, they try to make the most out of the funds by focusing on vital pinch points.
In the heart of Tampa stands the downtown interchange of I-4 and I-275. It’s unaffectionately known as “Malfunction Junction” due to the high number of accidents there.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/b7RPG/4/
So, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is investing $227 million to address some of the issues.
Andrew Williams, a senior construction project manager with FDOT, said that construction requires coordination between the state, local government and nearby residents.
“The big combination with this being in an urban footprint makes things very challenging,” Williams said. “So we’ve got a lot of local roads, we have a lot of local residents, we have some businesses in the area, and, you know, this is a historic area.”
Williams points up towards the steel skeleton of a bridge.
“That’s the steel tub girders for the new I-275 southbound to I-4 East bridge.”
It’s been two years since construction began, but planning has been underway for over a decade, according to Williams.
The project is scheduled to be done by early 2027. The hope is that it makes traffic flow better and, more importantly, safer.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ssFA4/5/
And it appears to be paying off.
The rate of serious injuries from crashes in Hillsborough County has steadily dropped since 2014, according to data from Signal 4 Analytics. In 2024, the county experienced its lowest death rate in a decade.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oWif5/5/
So, the next time you see traffic cones and those orange signs, know that a lot of time, money and information is put in your way with a goal of safe travels ahead.
They are featured on movie screens through franchises like “Cars” and “Fast and Furious,” and on television screens through sports like F1 and NASCAR.
And of course, vehicles are on the road every day as people travel to work, school, appointments or run errands.
But have you ever been driving and wondered, ‘Who is responsible for this road’s existence?’
Well, it turns out, as is often the case, it’s a mixed effort among city, county and state governments.
It’s valuable data transportation planners use to try to make traffic less insufferable.
Elizabeth Watkins is an executive planner with the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). She’s sitting in a high-rise office, and in front of her, on the computer, are purple, orange and beige lines, showing traffic data for the county.
Elizabeth Watkins, an executive planner with the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization, looks at a computer monitor displaying road data in the area. (5472x3648, AR: 1.5)
“ Maybe there’s a perception that projects just get picked out of nowhere,” said Watkins, “But there is a lot of analysis and hard work that goes behind looking at the system-level data and working with partners to take really conceptual, large-scale data and zeroing in on that problem.”
The data is compiled in a multitude of ways, ranging from high-tech to low-tech methods. However, the three main ones, according to Hillsborough TPO and the Florida Department of Transportation, are counting cars through traffic cameras, microwave sensors and rubber tubes.
“You will run over a parallel set of two black rubber tubes that are secured on either side of the roadway,” said Wade Reynolds, who’s also an executive planner with Hillsborough TPO. “And what those are doing is they’re blowing out little puffs of air into a machine that collects that data, and each puff or two puffs equates to a vehicle.”
Planners use the data to predict future traffic patterns.
“ Currently, we’re looking out to 2050 and looking at population growth, land use changes, and we do a lot of data analysis and community outreach, very importantly, to see what our community will need,” Watkins said.
To meet those needs, planners need funding for the projects, but there’s not always enough.
“We did an analysis, and we found that between 2030 and 2050, there were $47 billion worth of needs, but only $18 billion that we would expect to come to Hillsborough County through 2050,” Watkins said.
Still, they try to make the most out of the funds by focusing on vital pinch points.
In the heart of Tampa stands the downtown interchange of I-4 and I-275. It’s unaffectionately known as “Malfunction Junction” due to the high number of accidents there.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/b7RPG/4/
So, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is investing $227 million to address some of the issues.
Andrew Williams, a senior construction project manager with FDOT, said that construction requires coordination between the state, local government and nearby residents.
“The big combination with this being in an urban footprint makes things very challenging,” Williams said. “So we’ve got a lot of local roads, we have a lot of local residents, we have some businesses in the area, and, you know, this is a historic area.”
Williams points up towards the steel skeleton of a bridge.
“That’s the steel tub girders for the new I-275 southbound to I-4 East bridge.”
It’s been two years since construction began, but planning has been underway for over a decade, according to Williams.
The project is scheduled to be done by early 2027. The hope is that it makes traffic flow better and, more importantly, safer.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ssFA4/5/
And it appears to be paying off.
The rate of serious injuries from crashes in Hillsborough County has steadily dropped since 2014, according to data from Signal 4 Analytics. In 2024, the county experienced its lowest death rate in a decade.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oWif5/5/
So, the next time you see traffic cones and those orange signs, know that a lot of time, money and information is put in your way with a goal of safe travels ahead.