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The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) owns, operates and maintains the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in Tampa. The Selmon Expressway is a tolled highway. The Reversible Express Lanes (REL), a highway within a highway, runs in the middle on the eastern side of the highway with two non-tolled feeder roads, Brandon Parkway in Brandon and Meridian Avenue in Tampa, providing the entrance and exit to the REL. Additionally, THEA owns and operates the Selmon Greenway, a multipurpose recreational pathway running beneath and alongside the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
THEA was established by statute in 1963 (pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 348.0001 et seq.). THEA was established as a way to bring roadway infrastructure projects online sooner than with conventional department of transportation funding, with the first roadway opening in 1973.
THEA originally planned the neighboring Veteran's Expressway; however, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise actually built the project.
The state legislature has attempted to shut down THEA on numerous occasions during its history and transfer ownership to the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. The most recent attempt occurred in March, 2011 when the legislature attempted to pass a bill that would eliminate THEA, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, and Mid-Bay Bridge Authority ostensibly to save the state money. The plan was later abandoned when the state's budget was written [1].