Use of the Suncoast Trail is free, but in late 2010, a $2.00 parking fee was implemented at the Lutz-Lake Fern trailhead (Hillsborough County).

For most of its length, the Suncoast Trail stays close to the parkway, separated by fences, grass, and in some places concrete barriers.

[16] The Suncoast Parkway was the first of Florida's Turnpike Enterprise expressways to feature open-road tolling when it opened in 2001.

[17] In January 2020, the Suncoast Parkway stopped accepting cash payment of tolls, converting fully to SunPass and Toll-By-Plate.

As the plans finalized, the communities along the route grew, leading to rising land costs and opposition to the expressway dividing the towns.

Lutz was especially vocal, eventually rallying state politicians to cancel the expressway construction altogether.

[citation needed] With the completion of the Suncoast Parkway in 2001, the stub of the Veterans Expressway from Exit 13 to Dale Mabry Highway was designated State Road 568.

[20] In August 2005, a massive reconstruction project began on the interchanges between I-275 and Memorial Highway, near Tampa International Airport after being shelved for over fifteen years.

[21] The second phase, which upgrades the southbound lanes, is currently in the early design stages and there is currently no timetable set for construction.

[citation needed] The project has resulted in better access from southbound Veterans Expressway to the Courtney Campbell Causeway on State Road 60, the Airport to I-275 and the WestShore Business District.

[citation needed] This improvement project, which began May 2013, widens 11 miles (17.7 km) of the Veterans Expressway between Memorial Hwy and Van Dyke Rd.

In addition, the conversion of the Suncoast Parkway to AET will occur concurrent with the expansion into Citrus County,[24] thereby providing enhanced benefits to drivers using the entire Toll 589 corridor.

A congestion management tool (which is already in place along parts of I-95 and I-595 in Miami), Express Lanes offer motorists a choice that provides an opportunity for a faster through-trip, with greater trip reliability and safety.

[26] On December 9, 2017, the first phase of the Express Lanes, between Gunn Hwy and Hillsborough Ave, opened to traffic.

The lanes will not be subjected to the variable rate toll until closer to the time that the second phase from Gunn Hwy to Dale Mabry opens.

[27] While the reconstruction of the Veterans wrapped up in 2018, the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise still has not activated variable tolling for the express lanes.

[29] The original expansion plans featured an additional 15-mile extension from SR 44 to US 19; however, this portion remains unfunded with no timetable for its beginning.

[26] FDOT is currently evaluating the possibility of further extending the Suncoast Parkway to create a seamless, limited access, tolled highway between Tampa and Jacksonville.

[30] The Suncoast Parkway (both the existing route and the newly opened extension) has raised criticism from several opponents.

[32] Furthermore, the toll estimates for the original Suncoast Parkway have fallen far below expectations (actual revenues USD$22M vs. USD$150M estimated), leading Tampa Bay Times columnist Craig Pittman to ask why an extension is needed on a road that has had far fewer users than planned.