The quickest drive from South Tampa Street onto Franklin was scheduled to disappear Tuesday night. Weather permitting, South Tampa Street was set to close at East Brorein Street starting at 8 p.m. on Oct. 20, and the City of Tampa expects the closure to last about two years while crews set support pillars for the widened Selmon Expressway.
The closure comes as downtown heads into its busiest stretch of fall, and the timing shows how the season is laid out. The detour sits at the south edge, next to the Tampa Convention Center. Most of the free, neighborhood-sized events from now through Thanksgiving are on the north blocks: Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Poe Plaza and Lykes Gaslight Square. For anyone living downtown, the closure changes how you get to big convention weekends far more than it changes your regular routine.
The new pattern at Tampa and Brorein
The Tampa Downtown Partnership spelled out the new pattern in its Oct. 13 memo. Under the plan, the S-curve beneath the Selmon that connects South Tampa Street to South Franklin Street stays closed for the length of the work. In its place:
- Drivers going from South Tampa Street to South Franklin Street are routed to the leftmost lane of East Brorein Street.
- The single southbound through lane on South Tampa Street at Brorein becomes a left-turn-only lane onto Brorein.
- On Brorein, that leftmost lane is restriped as an eastbound right-turn-only lane, separated by a portable lane divider and temporary yellow fencing.
- The leftmost lane of East Brorein between South Morgan Street and South Florida Avenue is closed for the duration.
According to the city, the Tampa Convention Center Parking Garage and the Exhibit Hall Upper Loading Docks stay fully open throughout. The city scheduled the only garage-entrance closure for the overnight restriping, from 8 p.m. Oct. 20 to 5 a.m. Oct. 21.
THEA's South Selmon Capacity Project runs 4.5 miles, from west of Himes Avenue to east of Florida Avenue, and adds an inside lane in each direction for a total of six. It costs $362 million and is paid for with THEA toll revenue. The city cites THEA's figure that Selmon traffic has grown by more than 80% over the past decade. Once the work wraps up, the city says the underpasses beneath the expressway will get new sidewalks and lighting.
The south edge still hosts the big weekends
With the garage open, the Convention Center calendar goes ahead as planned. It just takes a different route to get there. The city's Convention Center calendar shows HYROX Tampa running Oct. 22 to 25, which makes the fitness race the first full weekend under the new traffic pattern. A Tampa Veterans Job Fair is also scheduled for Oct. 22. Port Tampa Bayslam follows on Nov. 6. The Tattoo Arts Convention runs Nov. 20 to 22, from 2 to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
The busiest resident event at the south end this fall is a few blocks east, at Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park, 601 Water St. Riverwalk Trick or Treat runs there Saturday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 9 p.m. It's free and includes trick-or-treating along the Riverwalk, a costume contest, a movie in the park and a flash mob performance. Since it's the same weekend as HYROX, the south end will be at its fullest for the first Saturday of the detour.
The free calendar runs up the river
North of Kennedy, the lineup is mostly free and mostly the kind of event people walk to.
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 | Oktoberfest Tampa | Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park | General admission from $10 |
| Nov. 4 | Mayor's Food Truck Party | Lykes Gaslight Square Park | Free |
| Nov. 5 | Downtown's Backyard Market | Poe Plaza | Free |
| Nov. 5 | Rock the Park | Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park | Free |
| Nov. 9 | Blind Date with a Book | Snow Park | Free |
Oktoberfest landed on Halloween weekend because of the weather. That's So Tampa reported that the forecast pushed the three-day festival of German food, beer and games to Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 at Curtis Hixon. As a result, the park's biggest festival weekend of the season now overlaps with the Halloween programming listed on the Riverwalk calendar, including Halloween Rock the Bay on Oct. 31 from 8 to 10:30 p.m.
The first week of November has the most going on. The food trucks are at Lykes Gaslight Square on Wednesday, Nov. 4. On Thursday, Nov. 5, the Backyard Market at Poe Plaza and Rock the Park at Curtis Hixon share the evening, a short walk apart on the Tampa Downtown Partnership calendar, which tags all three as free events.
The Friends of the Riverwalk calendar also has a weekly schedule running through the season: Gallery Chats daily at 11 a.m., Art on the House on Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m., Every Map Tells a Story on Fridays from 2 to 2:20 p.m., and Yoga in the Park on Sundays from 6 to 7 p.m. A Riverwalk Clean Up is listed for Friday, Nov. 6, from 8 to 11 a.m.
The season closes on the same calendar. The Riverwalk Holiday Spectacular begins Nov. 27, and the Holiday Harbour Tree Lighting is set for Sunday, Nov. 29, from 4 to 7 p.m.
North Franklin Street keeps adding tables
The restaurant news is also coming from the north end, which gives those evening events somewhere to eat before or after.
Rreal Tacos opened to the public Oct. 13 at 808 N. Franklin St., in the former Haiku space. That's So Tampa reported that the Atlanta-born concept serves street tacos, a wider range of Mexican dishes and margaritas. It's open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight, closing at 11 p.m. on Sundays. That makes it one of the later kitchens on that block, steps from the Thursday-night pairing of Poe Plaza and Curtis Hixon.
Two more Mexican concepts are lined up a few blocks over on Tyler Street. Creative Loafing Tampa reported in June that La Victoria is headed to 105 W. Tyler St., and La Victoria's own site still says "Coming Fall 2026." At 300 W. Tyler St., Next Level Brands is planning Matilde, a 7,600-square-foot coastal Mexican steakhouse with culinary development led by Jacob Rios. That's So Tampa reported a target opening of spring 2027.
Taken together, Franklin and Tyler are filling in around the same parks that carry the free calendar. All of that is several blocks north of the new construction at Brorein.
Getting between the two ends without the S-curve
For trips from one end of downtown to the other, the TECO Line Streetcar is the car-free option. Its rider information page says it's free every day and runs every 15 minutes. On Sunday through Thursday, service runs until midnight when the Lightning plays or there's a weeknight or Sunday event at Benchmark International Arena.
Walking near the expressway takes a little more planning. In a June advisory, THEA closed the Selmon Greenway to pedestrians between Morgan Street and South Franklin Street and sent foot traffic to East Brorein Street instead. That notice gives no reopening date, so the project's alerts page is the place to check before planning a walk along that stretch. THEA takes questions about the closure at [email protected] or 813-659-6140.
Under the new pattern, drivers headed to the Convention Center garage turn left from South Tampa Street onto Brorein, then take the converted eastbound lane toward Franklin, where the city's signage, barricades and lane separators mark the route. For the late-fall dates that need no car at all, like Oktoberfest, the Nov. 4 food trucks, the Nov. 5 market and concert, and the Riverwalk weekly schedule, the closure doesn't change much.
The new route changes how downtown homes show too, since buyers will drive past the construction on their way in. If you're thinking about selling a downtown condo over the next two years, Home Selling Group of Florida can put together a valuation that reflects how people actually reach your building, plus a listing plan built on the downtown blocks buyers will want to walk. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll start with your address.
