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The Courtney Campbell Causeway is the northernmost bridge across
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 travelling 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 to purchase it and remove the toll. Unlike the battle over the acquisition of the 
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.
Because of the confusion resulting from the name change, George T. Davis, grandson of Ben T. Davis, campaigned for a return to the original name, with the beautification project being dedicated to Courtney Campbell. George Davis gathered significant support from the community, who felt the bridge should properly bear the name of its builder, who underwent significant hardship to see his dream realized, rather than bear the name of a person with influence on the State Road Department as a Road Board member.
In 2005, the Causeway was designated as an official scenic highway by the state of Florida.
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)
"It's official: Courtney Campbell is scenic"
{{Bridges of Florida 1934 establishments in Florida Bridges completed in 1934 Bridges over Tampa Bay Buildings and structures in Clearwater, Florida Causeways in Florida Florida Scenic Highways Former toll bridges in Florida Road bridges in Florida Roads in Hillsborough County, Florida Roads in Pinellas County, Florida Roads in Tampa, Florida Bridges in Pinellas County, Florida Transportation buildings and structures in Hillsborough County, Florida
Old Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...
, carrying State Road 60 between Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populati ...
in Pinellas County
Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...
and Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
, Florida
Florida is a U.S. state, state located in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia (U.S. state), Geo ...
in Hillsborough County.
History
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 travelling 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 to purchase it and remove the toll. Unlike the battle over the acquisition of the Gandy Bridge
Gandy Bridge is the southernmost bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida. The original 1924 span was dismantled in 1975. The second bridge, constructed in 1956 was used for vehicular traffic until 1997, ...
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
The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Reco ...
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.
Because of the confusion resulting from the name change, George T. Davis, grandson of Ben T. Davis, campaigned for a return to the original name, with the beautification project being dedicated to Courtney Campbell. George Davis gathered significant support from the community, who felt the bridge should properly bear the name of its builder, who underwent significant hardship to see his dream realized, rather than bear the name of a person with influence on the State Road Department as a Road Board member.
In 2005, the Causeway was designated as an official scenic highway by the state of Florida.
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 theFlorida Department of Transportation
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...
on the west end. Frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...
s 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. Additionally, a bike path connecting the Causeway to Dana Shores Drive and Town 'n' Country (with a street connection to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail) has been paved. In Pinellas County, the causeway trail connects to the Ream Wilson Clearwater Trail and thereby to the Pinellas Trail
The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a rail trail in Pinellas County, Florida. It stretches from Tarpon Springs in the north to St. Petersburg in the south, passing through the towns of Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Belleair, Clearwater, Largo, Semino ...
. Given the demolition of the Friendship Trail Bridge, this bicycle link has become another connection across Tampa Bay.
In January 2018, construction began on a new water channel through the eastern side of the causeway. The new channel was needed to improve water quality in parts of Old Tampa Bay north of the causeway. The channel will be spanned by a bridge without supporting piers in the water, a design that will avoid trash and pollutants being caught on piers in the water. The $12 million project is expected to be finished in the summer of 2019.
References
External links
"It's official: Courtney Campbell is scenic"
{{Bridges of Florida 1934 establishments in Florida Bridges completed in 1934 Bridges over Tampa Bay Buildings and structures in Clearwater, Florida Causeways in Florida Florida Scenic Highways Former toll bridges in Florida Road bridges in Florida Roads in Hillsborough County, Florida Roads in Pinellas County, Florida Roads in Tampa, Florida Bridges in Pinellas County, Florida Transportation buildings and structures in Hillsborough County, Florida