Florida Man Arrested After Going 132 MPH On Gandy Bridge

I used to live in an apartment complex that was very close to the Gandy Bridge. It was common to hear street racers hauling ass across it in the middle of the night. It's also pretty common to read stories about people who have been cited, arrested or even crashed while doing so.
The latest case of speeding across the bridge happened early Sunday morning, when police observed two vehicles racing across the bridge at a high rate of speed. Investigators with the Florida State Highway Patrol say they arrested 20-year-old Oddami Luis Silvia Stevens after clocking his vehicle at 132 mph on the bridge. Stevens was charged with racing on a highway. The driver of the other car was not merntioned in the arrest report. The speed limit on the bridge is 55 mph.
For reference, the fastest speeding ticket in recent Bay history was recieved in Polk County, when a man was ticketed and arrested for going 155 mph. The man was fined over a thousand dollars and was required to appear in court. The fastest ticket ever received in America was received by a man in Texas, who was taking his Koenigsegg CCR out for a spin and got clocked at 242 mph. While this story has been circulating for years, it has never been verified, so it may just be an urban legend. Source: TampaBay.com

Bridges Around The Bay Are A Necessity

As you drive over the Howard Frankland Bridge, you see progress, but it's still pretty tough to imagine what all of this work is going to look like upon completion. Work won't finish until late 2025 according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The cost is expected to be about $865 million.

A new southbound/westbound (from Tampa to St. Pete) bridge is what you see currently being built north of the current southbound/westbound bridge. It'll have 8 lanes - 4 for general use and 4 express lanes. There's a bike and pedestrian path in the plan. The bridge we use now to go from Tampa to St. Pete will become the new northbound/eastbound part of 275 once the new bridge is ready. The bridge we use to go from St. Pete to Tampa will be taken down.

As of August 2023, 163 of the 226 bridge caps have been completed. 605 of the bridge superstructure beams have been place. 39 of the 133 bridge decks placed. You also may have noticed a new traffic flow on the south side (St. Pete side) of the bridge.

Not patient enough to wait until 2025 to see what this is all going to look like? Nor am I. Here's a sneak preview from artist renditions shared by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Go Bucs!

More racing on Bay bridges...