Courtney Campbell Causeway

The Causeway was commissioned by the owner of a local dredging company, Ben T. Davis, in the late 1920s to provide a more direct link between Tampa and Clearwater. The only current land route at that time required traveling over around the northern shore of Tampa Bay, through the community of Oldsmar. His proposal was granted and work began in earnest in 1927, and continued off and on as Davis' dredging company ran out of other work to do. During construction, one of the original bridge spans was destroyed by a hurricane. Costing $900,000 in total, the Davis Causeway was opened on January 28, 1934, with a 25¢ toll per car. At the time of its completion, the Davis Causeway was the longest over-water fill across an open body of water in the United States. Soon after the Davis Causeway opened, agitation began to have the State Road Department purchase it and remove the toll. Unlike the battle over the acquisition of the Gandy Bridge between Tampa and St. Petersburg, the owners of Davis Causeway remained realistic concerning the probability of the state acquiring their investment. However, it wasn't until 1944, as part of the war effort, that the federal government obtained the Davis Causeway, paying its previous owners $1.085 million, with the Public Works Administration paying half and the State Road Department paying the remainder. The ownership of the causeway was transferred to the state of Florida. In 1948, the Davis Causeway was renamed for Courtney W. Campbell, a Clearwater Beach resident, U.S. Representative, and member of the Florida Road Board who spearheaded efforts to ensure needed repairs and beautification of the Causeway was completed. == Today ==

In its current form, the Courtney Campbell Causeway stretches approximately from eastern Clearwater to Tampa's Rocky Point island and subsequently to the mainland of western Tampa. The topographical causeway is broken by two elevated spans that allow watercraft access to and from Old Tampa Bay. There are two beaches along the Causeway: the Ben T. Davis Municipal Beach, maintained by the City of Tampa at the east end, and an unnamed beach owned by the Florida Department of Transportation on the west end. Frontage roads accessible at several points along the route run alongside the main four-lane road and are broken up by the bridge spans. A public boat ramp exists on the northern side just east of the largest bridge span. Because of its lower capacity, lower posted speed limits, and lack of elevation coupled with the numerous palm and mangrove vegetation along the route, the Causeway offers some of the most picturesque views of any major road in the Tampa Bay area. In 2007, the Florida DOT conducted a study to further enhance the Causeway with the addition of a recreational trail, supplanting the less-used frontage road on the north side. In 2010, Florida DOT constructed a service road as part of the Airport Interchange project. When the gate is unlocked, this serves as a bike path connecting Cypress Road (at Cypress Point Park), Tampa to the Causeway and Rocky Point Island. File:Courtney Cambell Causeway 04.jpg|alt=Highway on causeway|View towards west (Clearwater) near middle of the causeway File:Courtney Cambell Causeway 02.jpg|alt=Two bridges crossing a water channel viewed from shore|Highway (left) and pedestrian (right) bridges crossing the largest water channel through the causeway File:Courtney Cambell Causeway 03.jpg|View towards east (Tampa) from pedestrian trail bridge of the largest water channel cutting through the causeway File:Courtney Campbell Causeway main span west parking.jpg|alt=Parking lot between approach embankment to two bridges|Free parking lot and one of the ten art-deco 'lounges' (left) along Hillsborough side of the trail File:Courtney Cambell Causeway 05.jpg|alt=Highway diverted from former alignment to pass around construction site with crane|Construction on a new water channel and bridge near the eastern end of the causeway (April 2018) == References ==