Many Tampa apartments are located near major roadways and busy back streets. Depending on what your perception may be when it comes to experiencing a heavy digestion of traffic, you may or may not consider Tampa to be heavily endowed with traffic.
Similar to most sub hubs and cities, there are certainly set hours throughout the days of the week that will be more heavily congested with vehicles than on other days. However intolerable that may be, the remaining 70% of Tampa days are fairly decent.
As you may have already guessed, there are busier streets in Tampa based on location. In general, Tampa is made up of four main interstates. These are I-275, I-75, I-4, and Veterans Express Way. Living in Tampa apartments near any of these roadways can often been deemed as a double-edged sword.
Much of the Tampa Bay area is undergoing construction as a result of the housing boom and an expansion of new population to the newly built regions. These two specific areas are New Tampa and neighborhoods along the Veterans Expressway.
Tampa apartments in New Tampa are built right along the interchange of I-75, allowing easy access to jump onto I-4 to head East or West or traveling North and South bound on I-275. While this is great for commuters who want an easy trip to downtown, South Tampa or the beaches, rush hour can be a huge detriment. As a result, New Tampa has been undergoing expansions to its roads for the last few years. Although this will eventually improve the area, the blocked streets and smaller roadways definitely allude to the backed up traffic situation. If you plan on living in Tampa apartments in this area, know it will nearly be impossible to avoid the traffic. Plan accordingly and expect for it to take an hour to get to downtown Tampa during the hours of 7-9AM.
For the most part, apartments near Tampa that a located along the Veterans Expressway experience an easy commute in and out of Tampa. That being said, however, traveling Northbound around 5PM is a nightmare. The toll-booths tend to slow traffic down even more along with the construction changes. Recently, many roads have been closed during specific hours, often frustrating traffic even more than usual. If you do not plan to work in South Tampa or down town and can avoid the commute at that time, living near this roadway can be highly advantageous. Veterans Expressway helps those to get to the beach, airport, downtown and South Tampa quick and efficiently.
Contrary to belief, Carrollwood only experiences a moderate amount of traffic even though it is built along a popular road way in Tampa- Dale Mabry. Traffic hour can be a nuisance but aside from that, this area experiences less congestion than New Tampa. The Hyde Park and South Tampa neighborhoods somewhat mirror the North Tampa/Carrollwood areas and experience an average amount of
Aside from the four hours a day that are dedicated to those who work a 9 to 5, this city does not experience too many delays on the roads. The best way to avoid traffic is to try to keep yourself from traveling South bound in the morning and North Bound in the evening. The construction zones will hopefully easy up in the upcoming months, allowing some neighborhoods to travel more easily.