Commuting from Sand Key to USF area. Is it do-able? (Tampa: rent, to live in)

[monty-ellis]

I am relocating to the Tampa area and have the opportunity to live in the Clearwater/Sand Key area for minimal rent for the next few months. Is the commute to Tampa and/or the USF area do able from Clearwater? From what I understand it will be about an hour drive. I would be leaving around 6am and returning much past rush hour in the evening. Has anyone done this commute or have any thoughts about the actual drive time?

[BJS1981]

That's crazy man.

[Qacer]

7AM is usually when rush hour starts to pick up in the Tampa area. I suppose it's similar in the Clearwater area, too. If you leave at 6AM, you should not have any major problems getting to USF. Normally, the bottle neck with your eastward route is the Veteran's Expressway / Gulf to Bay Blvd. / I-275 section.

Evening drive, however, maybe different. Traffic going westwards towards the airport is normally heavy around 4-6PM on I-4 / I-275. I've seen it multiple times and it seems like they're just going a little less than 10MPH. If you leave around 7PM, then it might be a different story. But it'll still take you at least 1 hour to get to your destination.

Let's put it this way. Driving from the USF area towards Clearwater Beach on a weekend normally takes us about 1 hour. That's when traffic is not too bad. Coming back from Clearwater to USF late (~ around 1AM) still takes us about an hour, as well. So if you add more traffic during workdays, then you're looking at a long drive. (Note: Driving speeds are assumed to be within traffic limits.)