Interstate 4
) to
Interstate 95 at
Daytona Beach, Florida (). It also has the
Florida Department of Transportation designation of
Florida State Road 400, but only a small portion of the route is signed at the east end.
The combination of the
Tampa,
Orlando and
Daytona Beach metropolitan areas is often referred to as the
I-4 Corridor, since the freeway connects all three. In the
2004 U.S. presidential election, the I-4 corridor, a site of significant growth, was a focus of political activity within the
swing state of Florida. Communities along the I-4 corridor were perceived by both major political parties as having higher proportions of
undecided voters as compared to more
Republican or
Democratic-leaning portions of the state.
Hurricane Charley is sometimes referred to locally as the
I-4 Hurricane. The storm's path followed closely to Interstate 4 for its last 100 miles (160 km) and caused widespread damage in central Florida.
Bolded cities are officially-designated
control cities for signs.
*
Tampa, Florida*
Plant City, Florida*
Lakeland, Florida*
Orlando, Florida*
Daytona Beach, Florida*Interstate 4 is one of Florida's first Interstate segments be constructed. The first segment opened between Plant City and Lakeland in
1959.
*In
1960/
1961, the Howard Frankland Bridge opened to traffic, as well as the segment from 50th St in Tampa to Plant City, and the segment from Lake Monroe to Lake Helen.
*The segment from Lakeland to Orlando was complete by 1962.
*By the mid 1960s, several segments were already complete, including
Malfunction Junction in Tampa and parts of I-4 through Orlando.
*The original western terminus was set in South Pasadena in the late 1960s, but was rejected due to local opposition. As a result, I-4 only went as far southwest as 9th St N in St. Petersburg.
*The entire interstate was complete by the late 1960s. However, the western terminus was truncated to
Malfunction Junction in
1971 when I-75 was extended over the Frankland Bridge. Eventually, that stretch was again renamed to become part of
I-275.
*The interchange with what is today
Interstate 75, was contructed in the early 1980s.
*In the early/mid 1990s, several interchanges near
Kissimmee were constructed/upgraded to acommodate increasing traffic going to and from
Walt Disney World, however I-4's main lanes were not widened in the process. At around the same time, the
Southern Connector was extended to I-4.
*The I-4/I-275 interchange (
Malfunction Junction) was rebuilt in
2004 and
2005, and I-4 is under staged renovations to expand it from four to six lanes (with eight lanes in certain segments). Some of this work is complete.
*Eventually, I-4 will be widened again to a total of at least ten lanes (five in each direction). Studies for this project are already underway and construction should commence sometime in the 2010s. Completion of the project should be around 2020.
This road is very close to a true diagonal route. It goes further east-west than north-south, though it would probably still be even-numbered even if it didn't, given that it only intersects odd-numbered Interstates at right angles. Throughout most of
Orange County, I-4 travels in almost a north-south direction.
The
bridge over the St. Johns River, originally a single four-lane span, replaced with two three-lane spans in
2003, is now named the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Many post-1970 era interchanges along I-4 were built prior to the recent widening projects, with (I-4) expansion in mind. Meaning that there is enough room available to widen I-4 up to ten lanes without extensively modifying the interchanges. Some of these interchanges include the
Interstate 75 stack (constructed in the 1980s) and several interchanges in
Kissimmee (constructed in the late 1980s/early 1990s).
Tolled express lanes were being planned in the Orlando area as a traffic congestion relief technique for
rush hour commuters. The name for them was to be
Xpress 400, numbered after the state road designation for I-4, SR 400. However, due to
U.S. Representative John Mica, they have been banned by a recently passed rider in the
SAFETEA-LU Federal transportation bill in
2005.
While the entire length of I-4 carries the hidden designation of State Road 400, there is a three mile long stretch of signed SR 400 extending from the northeast terminus of I-4 to an intersection with
U.S. Route 1 (
SR 5) in
Daytona Beach.
This is the lowest-numbered Interstate Highway, not including Interstates in
Hawaii;
I-5 is the lowest-numbered north-south Interstate.
The fierce rivalry between the
Tampa Bay Storm and
Orlando Predators Arena Football League teams has been penned as the War on I-4.
In Tampa, the exit to 40th Street (
State Road 569) has been closed since late-2005, due to the ongoing reconstruction of I-4; It will not reopen due to a proposed connector highway with the
Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
[Tampa Bay Interstates, I-4/Crosstown Connector Project Page]Eastbound I-4 shifted to it's new, permanent allignment between
Malfunction Junction and 50th St on Tuesday,
August 8,
2006 at 5:30am. The new allignment includes a right-lane ramp exit/entry at the 22nd St/21st St Interchange (The previous left-lane configuration was causing hazardous conditions to commuters since it's opening in 2005). On Friday,
August 11,
2006; a fourth lane opened on eastbound I-4 between the downtown junction and 50th St (led in by a newly opened third lane on the eastbound I-4 ramp from northbound I-275). The newly opened lanes will improve flow throughout the interchange. In addition, the new westbound allignment for I-4, west of 50th St, will open by around
August 18. The 50th St overpass however, will not be complete until late 2007.
[Tampa Bay Interstates, Eastbound I-4 in new alignment, August 8, 2006][WTSP, Eastbound I-4 traffic: New lanes, new exit through Ybor City, August 7, 2006][WTSP, New I-4 lanes help drivers get to concert early , August 10, 2006][Tampa Bay Interstates, New eastbound I-4 lane open!, August 8, 2006]In Orlando, the eastbound exit to Robinson Street (
State Road 526) permanently closed at 11PM on
April 25,
2006, to make way for construction of the new eastbound onramp from
State Road 408.
[Central Florida News 13, On The Move, April 25, 2006]The new
flyover from I-4 west to
John Young Parkway (
County Road 423) opened the morning of
April 27,
2006.
[Orlando Sentinel, Rising above I-4 crowds, April 26, 2006][WESH, Changes Under Way On I-4, April 26, 2006][Central Florida News 13, On The Move, April 26, 2006]Due to the ever-increasing amount of truck traffic that connect to and from the
Port of Tampa via 21st and 22nd Streets; it became clear that an elevated highway connecting the Interstate and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway was needed to safely channel truck traffic to and from the area. One major accident involving a truck in historic Ybor City could mean a huge disaster. The proposed connector would parallel the 40th St corridor from the Crosstown to I-4 (following an abandoned CSX rail corridor).
Features include special ‘
Truck ONLY Lanes' to safely carry all truck traffic to and from the port, thus eliminating almost all of the truck traffic on 21st and 22nd Streets.
Early planning for the highway began around 1999, with most of the major design stage completed in 2004/2005. However, funding did not become available for the connector project until a recent federal transportation bill passed.
At this point, all major planning for the project is nearing completion but will not be finalized until late 2008. Right of Way Acquisition is already well underway and should be complete by early 2008.
Construction of the connector should begin around 2009/2010.
*In 2004, the 40th St exit (Exit 2) with I-4 was permanently closed due to the proposed connector.
Exits are numbered from west to east.
*In maps and atlasses dating to the 1950s/60s/and 70s; The Tampa/St. Petersburg section of Interstate 4/Interstate 275 was marked as the
Tampa Expressway. The Orlando segment was marked as the
Orlando Expressway. Both names have since faded from the maps.
*
FDOT GIS data*
Historic Florida Interstate Information*
Trans4mation (Orlando-area reconstruction)
*
I4Polk.com (Lakeland-area reconstruction)
*
Tampa Bay Interstates (Tampa-area reconstruction)
*
Interstate 4 at Exitlists.com
*
Interstate 4 at Larry's Phat Page
*
Interstate 4 at Interstate275Florida.com
