Phil Ammann
On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott named Indian Shores attorney James “Jim” Holton to the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority.
TBARTA was created in 2007 by the Florida Legislature to develop a transportation master plan for a seven-county region of west-central Florida. The agency covers Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.
Holton, 61, is president of JWH Properties Inc. and James W. Holton PA Law Firm. He also serves as a member of the Pinellas County Economic Development Council and the Citizens Property Insurance Board of Governors.
Previously, Holton chaired the Florida Transportation Commission and was as a member of the Enterprise Florida Inc. Board of directors. He fills a vacant seat for a term ending Sept. 20, 2018.
In the same announcement, Scott reappointed Clifford “Cliff” Manuel of Brooksville to TBARTA.
Manuel, 57, is president of Coastal Engineering Associates Inc. He currently serves as the vice chair of the Brooksville Housing Authority and the chair of Hernando Progress. He previously served as the lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis Club of Brooksville and the president of the Hernando County Chamber of Commerce. Manuel’s reappointment is for a term ending June 21, 2018.
Among TBARTA’S local projects include construction of the transportation corridor between Gandy Boulevard and I-275 in Pinellas County, and upgrades to the I-75 interchange with University Parkway separating Sarasota and Manatee counties. Also, plans include possible express lanes on I-275 from Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg to downtown Tampa, moving northward to Bearss Avenue. Also proposed are express lanes on I-4 from the interstate’s juncture with I-275 and through the corridor east to the Polk Parkway near Lakeland. I-75 in eastern Hillsborough County could also get express lanes from State Road 674 in the Sun City Center region to just north of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa.
