THEA and CEO Joe Waggoner Honored at the 36th Annual Planning & Design Awards

October 26, 2018

Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority and CEO Joe Waggoner Honored at the 36th Annual Planning & Design Awards

Tampa, FL. – The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) and THEA CEO Joe Waggoner were honored at Plan Hillsborough’s 36th Annual Planning & Design Awards on Thursday, October 25, 2018.

THEA CEO Joe Waggoner was awarded the Chairman’s Award for outstanding contributions to planning and quality of life in the Tampa Bay community, alongside fellow leaders Mayor Bob Buckhorn and USF System President Dr. Judy Genshaft.

“I am honored to receive the Chairman’s Award,” said THEA CEO Joe Waggoner. “At THEA, our mission has always been how to best serve the community we love – whether that is to make roads safer with the cutting edge technology of the Tampa Connected Vehicle Pilot, or to help shorten commutes as we are doing with the Selmon Extension along Gandy Blvd, or to help attract the best & brightest innovators to the Tampa Bay region as we do every year with the Florida Automated Vehicle Summit. Each project we plan, each road we build begins with our community in mind.”

THEA won the Planning & Design Award of Merit in the Investment Category for its pocket parks along the Selmon Greenway, a 1.7-mile trail under the Selmon Expressway that is mostly in the shade, and that connects many of downtown Tampa’s popular entertainment, educational, and business venues from the Riverwalk to Ybor City.

The first of these pocket parks is named the Deputy John Kotfila, Jr Memorial Dog Park and is built under the shade of the Selmon Expressway, near the Channelside District of Downtown Tampa. The park was built in honor of Hillsborough County Deputy John Robert Kotfila, Jr. who lost his life to a wrong-way driver on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway and held a strong bond with his dog, Dexter.

ABOUT THEA:
A public agency led by local citizens and operating with no tax dollars, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) provides safe, reliable and financially sustainable transportation services to the Tampa Bay region while reinvesting customer-based revenues back into the community. From being the owner and operator of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway to offering real-time testing and showcasing of connected vehicle and autonomous vehicle technologies, to the designing and operating the world’s first reversible all-electronic toll road, THEA continues to drive the conversation on cutting-edge transportation solutions. For more information, visit www.tampa-xway.com.

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