Commissioner's Corner: Planning ahead for I-4 Ultimate

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday season with your friends and family. As is fitting with a new year, it is time to discard the old and bring in the new. It is in this spirit and beginning in 2015, the Florida Department of Transportation has planned to reconstruct Interstate 4 between Kirkman Road in Orlando and State Road 434 in Longwood to make the roadway more accessible and less congested for commuters through the addition of new lanes and realignment of existing interchanges and bridges. The multi-year renovation and expansion of this stretch of roadway is known as the “I-4 Ultimate” project.

This section of I-4 running through Orange County was built in the mid-1960s to serve the transportation needs of a small but growing county. Original plans for the roadway date back to the 1950s and predate Central Florida’s rise as a top tourist destination. In 1960, Orange County’s population was 263,560. Since then, our population has increased to over 1.2 million residents. Interstate 4’s capacity has not been able to keep pace with our nearly five-fold increase in population. Approximately 175,000 vehicles travel the I-4 Ultimate project area daily.

The I-4 Ultimate project will add two new tolled lanes in each direction of travel. The new lanes will be tolled dynamically with the goal of maintaining an average speed of 50 miles per hour for travelers in those lanes; the existing general use lanes will remain toll-free. These express lanes will use electronic sensors to determine traffic flow and adjust tolls appropriately to manage congestion. Heavy trucks will not be allowed in the express lanes, freeing them for commuters. The design speed of the general use lanes will be increased to 60 miles per hour.

The I-4 Ultimate project will overhaul the expressway’s infrastructure. Seventy-four bridges will be replaced, 53 new bridges will be built, 13 will bridges will be heavily modified, and 15 major interchanges will be rebuilt. Numerous aesthetic features will also be installed including green spaces, landscaping, aesthetic lighting, $1.5 million in public art, and visually appealing bridge architecture. Design of the roadway is currently underway and construction is scheduled to begin on Feb. 1. Construction should take approximately six years to complete.

Construction of these improvements will seek to have a minimal impact on commuters. During construction, the same number of lanes available on I-4 today will be open during peak hours. Work on the project will be limited to nighttime hours, and work on ramps will be scheduled so no two consecutive ramps are closed at the same time. Drivers will also have alternative transportation options available through SunRail, LYNX bus service, and ReThink, the Florida Department of Transportation’s ride sharing program.

The I-4 Ultimate project is not the last major renovation planned for this interstate. The Department of Transportation is studying plans to provide upgrades to other areas of I-4 outside of the I-4 Ultimate project area. The proposed areas include Kirkman Road south to U.S. 27 in Polk County and State Road 434 to State Road 472 in Volusia County. In addition, the department is currently widening the northern end of I-4 from its intersection with State Road 44 just east of DeLand to its intersection with I-95. That project is scheduled for completion this winter.

You can track the progress of construction, view ramp and lane closure schedules, and review project documents at i4ultimate.com. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about any issue facing Orange County, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff, Edgar Robinson and Lynette Rummel. We can be reached at 407-836-7350 or by email and [email protected]