Interstate 4

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Image:I-4.svg
Interstate 4
Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Image:Interstate 4 map.png
Length: 132.30 mi[1] (212.92 km)
Formed: 1957
West end: Image:I-275.svg I-275 in Tampa
Major
junctions:
Image:I-75.svg I-75 near Tampa
Image:Toll Florida 570.svg Polk Pkwy in Polk County
Image:US 27.svg U.S. 27 at Davenvport, FL
Image:Toll Florida 429.svg Western Exwy near Disney World
Image:Toll Florida 417.svg Central Florida GreeneWay near Celebration
Image:Toll Florida 528.svg Beachline Exwy in Orlando
Image:Florida's Turnpike shield.png Florida's Turnpike in Orlando
Image:Toll Florida 408.svg East-West Exwy in Orlando
Image:Toll Florida 417.svg Seminole County Exwy in Sanford
East end: Image:I-95.svg I-95 (as I-4)
Image:US 1.svgUS 1 in Daytona Beach (as SR 400)
Florida State and County Roads
< Image:Florida 3.svg SR 3 SR 4 Image:Florida 4.svg >
< Image:Florida 399.svg SR 399 Image:Florida 400.svg SR 401 Image:Florida 401.svg >
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Interstate 4

Interstate 4 (abbreviated I-4) is a 132.30-mile (212.91 km) intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Florida, United States. It goes from Interstate 275 in Tampa, Florida (27.965° N 82.453° W) to Interstate 95 at Daytona Beach, Florida (29.155° N 81.076° W). It also has the Florida Department of Transportation designation of State Road 400, but only a small portion of the route is signed at the east end.

I-4 is currently the lowest-numbered Interstate Highway in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.

The combination of the Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando and Daytona Beach metropolitan areas is often referred to as the I-4 Corridor, since the freeway connects all four.

Contents

[edit] Route description

I-4 maintains a diagonal, northeast-southwest route for its entire length. Throughout most of Orange County and Seminole County, I-4 travels in a roughly north-south direction.

At an interchange with I-95 in Daytona Beach, I-4 terminates; however, SR 400 continues eastward into Daytona Beach.

[edit] Daytona Beach

SR 400, unsigned while concurrent with I-4, becomes signed east of I-95. The road extends for three miles from the northeast terminus of I-4 to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Daytona Beach. Named Beville Road, it runs along the boundary between Daytona Beach and South Daytona.

[edit] History

Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs

I-4 was one of the first Interstate Highways to be constructed in Florida. The first section 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. The stretch from Lake Monroe to Lake Helen also opened during that period. 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 this plan 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 system was completed 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 redesignated to become part of I-275.

In maps and atlases dating to the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, 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 maps.

Although many post-1970 interchanges along I-4 were constructed before the recent widening projects, they were designed with I-4 expansion in mind. In other words, there is enough room available to widen I-4 to 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).

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.[2]

[edit] Tampa area

The interchange with what is today Interstate 75 was constructed in the early 1980s.

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.[3]

The I-4/I-275 interchange (Malfunction Junction) was rebuilt from 2002 to 2006, and I-4 is under staged renovations to be widened from four to six lanes (with eight lanes in certain segments). Much of this work is complete, and all new travel lanes are now open. 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.

Image:Florida I-4 JCT.jpg
An old I-4 shield in Orlando.

Eastbound I-4 shifted to its new, permanent alignment between Malfunction Junction and 50th St on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 at 5:30am. The new alignment 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 its 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). And on Friday, August 18, the new westbound alignment, just west of 50th Street, opened. The newly opened lanes will improve flow throughout the interchange. The 50th St overpass however, will not be complete until late 2007.[4][5][6][7] Also, the eastbound I-4 exit ramp to Columbus Drive/50th Street is situated to the left-hand side of the highway (as opposed to its former right-hand side exit). This exit shift went into effect in spring 2006 and is part of the new, permanent interstate configuration.

[edit] Orlando area

In the early/mid 1990s, several interchanges near Kissimmee were constructed/upgraded to accommodate increasing traffic going to and from Walt Disney World. However, I-4's main lanes were not widened in the process. Around the same time, the Southern Connector was extended to I-4.

The St. Johns River Veterans Memorial Bridge, a two-span six-lane replacement to the original four-lane bridge over the St. Johns River northeast of Orlando, was completed in 2004.

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.

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.[8] The westbound offramp to Gore Street will also eventually close as part of the project.

The new flyover from I-4 west to John Young Parkway (County Road 423) opened the morning of April 27, 2006.[9][10][11]

[edit] Halifax River Bridge

There have been a number of proposals for a bridge that would carry SR 400 (Beville Road) across the Halifax River to Daytona Beach Shores. Proponents say that this would improve traffic flow and assist in hurricane evacuations, while opponents claim that a bridge would lead to congestion and environmental damage.[citation needed] Somewhat of a hot topic in the local area in the 1990s, the bridge proposal currently appears to be dormant.[citation needed]

[edit] Future

[edit] Orlando area

Interchanges with U.S. Route 192 and State Road 408 are also currently undergoing major reconstruction. The new US 192 interchange will be completed in the summer of 2007, and several new ramps at the SR 408 interchange will open in 2009. The rest of the SR 408 improvements are scheduled for the next decade.

[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile[12] Exit # Destinations Notes
New Old
Hillsborough Tampa 0.000 Image:I-275.svg I-275St. Petersburg, Ocala, Tampa International Airport westbound exit and eastbound entrance
1.046 1 Image:Florida 585.svg SR 585 (22nd Street) / 21st Street
2 (Future) Image:Toll Florida blank.svg I-4/Crosstown Connector south to Image:Toll Florida 618.svg Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway/Port of Tampa Connector construction is scheduled to begin in 2009.
3.260 3 3 Image:US 41.svg US 41 / 50th Street, Columbus Drive Eastbound left exit, westbound left entrance. Eastbound right entrance and westbound right exit.
4.704 5 4 Image:Florida 574.svg SR 574 (Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard)
5.567 6 5 Orient Road eastbound exit and westbound entrance
6.661 7 6 Image:US 92.svgImage:US 301.svg US 92 (Hillsborough Avenue) to US 301Riverview, Zephyrhills Conjestion may occur on days when the state fair is on. Traffic delays on the interstate can be common with major tailbacks in either direction.
8.613 9 7 Image:I-75.svg I-75Ocala, Naples
10.136 10 8 Image:Hillsborough County Road 579 FL.svg CR 579 / Mango Road – Mango, Thonotosassa
13.866 14 9 McIntosh Road
17.421 17 10 Branch Forbes Road
Plant City 19.507 19 11 Image:Florida 566.svg SR 566 (Thonotosassa Road)
21.276 21 12-13 Image:Florida 39.svg SR 39 (Buchman Highway) / Alexander Street – Zephyrhills
22.580 22 14 Image:Florida 553.svg SR 553 (Park Road)
25.563 25 15 County Line Road
Polk Lakeland 26.541 27 15A Image:Toll Florida 570.svg SR 570 East (Polk Parkway) – Winter Haven, Bartow
28.128 28 16 Image:Florida 546.svgImage:US 92.svg SR 546 to US 92
30.684 31 17 Image:Florida 539.svg SR 539Kathleen
31.988 32 18 Image:US 98.svg US 98Dade City
33.421 33 19 Image:Florida 33.svgImage:Polk County Road 582 FL.svg SR 33 / CR 582
37.877 38 20 Image:Florida 33.svg SR 33
41.195 41 20A Image:Toll Florida 570.svg SR 570 West (Polk Parkway) – Auburndale, Lakeland
43.960 44 21 Image:Florida 559.svg SR 559Polk City, Auburndale
47.941 48 22 Image:Polk County Road 557 FL.svg CR 557Lake Alfred, Winter Haven
54.681 55 23 Image:US 27.svg US 27Haines City, Clermont
57.719 58 24 Image:Osceola County Road 532 FL.svg CR 532Kissimmee, Poinciana
Osceola
59.585 60 Image:Toll Florida 429.svg SR 429 North – Apopka
Disney World 61.747 62 24C-D-E Image:Toll Florida 417.svg Toll SR 417 east, World Drive – Disney World, Celebration, Sanford, International Airport
64.158 64A-B 25 Image:US 192.svg US 192Celebration, Kissimmee, Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios
65.297 65 26C-D Osceola ParkwayAnimal Kingdom, Wide World of Sports was only 26C eastbound
Orange 66.553 67 26A-B Image:Florida 536.svg Image:Toll Florida 417.svg SR 536 To SR 417Epcot, Downtown Disney
68.102 68 27 Image:Florida 535.svg SR 535Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista
70.932 71 27A Central Florida Parkway – Sea World eastbound exit and westbound entrance
71.682 72 28 Image:Toll Florida 528.svg SR 528 East (Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway) – International Airport, Cape Canaveral
73.737 74A 29 Image:Florida 482.svg SR 482 (Sand Lake Road) was 29A westbound after 29B (current 74B) opened
73.737 74B 29B Universal westbound exit and entrance
75.032 75A-B 30A-B Image:Florida 435.svg SR 435 (Kirkman Road) – Universal
76.363 77 31 Image:Florida's Turnpike shield.pngImage:Toll Florida 91.svg Florida's TurnpikeMiami, Wildwood
77.774 78 31A Conroy Road
79.154 79 32 Image:Orange County Road 423 FL.svg CR 423 (John Young Parkway)
80.463 80A-B 33A-B Image:US 17.svgImage:US 92.svgImage:US 441.svg US 17 / US 92 / US 441 (Orange Blossom Trail)
81.022 81A 34 Michigan Street westbound exit and eastbound entrance
81.478 81B-C 35 Kaley Avenue was split into 35A and 35B westbound only
82.116 82A 36 Image:Toll Florida 408.svg Toll SR 408 (East-West Expressway)
82.235 82B 37 Gore Street (Closing Permanently in 2007) westbound exit and entrance
Orlando 82.654 82C 38 Anderson Street East Temporarily Closed for construction of the new Anderson Street Bridge
82.803 83 39 South Street westbound exit and eastbound entrance
83.802 83B 41 Image:US 17.svgImage:US 92.svgImage:Florida 50.svg US 17 / US 92 / SR 50 (Colonial Drive) / Amelia Street
84.328 84 42 Ivanhoe Boulevard
85.134 85 43 Princeton Street
Winter Park 85.890 86 44 Par Street eastbound exit and westbound entrance
86.796 87 45 Image:Florida 426.svg SR 426 (Fairbanks Avenue)
87.773 88 46 Image:Florida 423.svg SR 423 (Lee Road)
89.517 90 47 Image:Florida 414.svg SR 414 (Maitland Boulevard) split into 90A and 90B eastbound
Seminole 91.638 92 48 Image:Florida 436.svg SR 436Altamonte Springs, Apopka
93.617 94 49 Image:Florida 434.svg SR 434Longwood, Winter Springs
98.420 98 50 Lake Mary Boulevard – Lake Mary, Heathrow
Sanford 100.634 101A 51A Image:Seminole County Road 46A FL.svg CR 46A (Paola Road) – Heathrow
102.521 101B Image:Toll Florida 417.svg SR 417 South (Central Florida GreeneWay) – International Airport
102.521 101C 51 Image:Florida 46.svg SR 46Mount Dora
104.019 104 52 Image:US 17.svgImage:US 92.svg US 17 / US 92
Volusia 107.824 108 53 County Road 4162 - Dirksen Drive/DeBary Avenue - DeBary, Deltona
110.646 111 53CA-CB County Road 4146 - Saxon Blvd. - Deltona, Orange City split into 111A and 111B eastbound
DeLand 113.802 114 54 Image:Florida 472.svg SR 472 – Deltona/DeLand
115.920 116 55 County Road 4116 - Orange Camp Road - Lake Helen
118.481 118 56 Image:Florida 44.svg State Road 44 - New York Avenue - New Smyrna Beach
Daytona Beach 129.131 129 57 To Image:US 92.svg US 92 east eastbound exit and westbound entrance
132.001 132 58 Image:I-95.svgImage:Florida 400.svg I-95 / SR 400 east – Jacksonville, Miami, South Daytona eastbound exit and westbound entrance

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink) Image:I-blank.svg
4 5 8 10 12 15 16 17 19 20 22 24 25 26 27 29 30
35 37 39 40 43 44 45 49 55 57 59 64 65 66 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 (W) 76 (E) 77 78 79 80 81 82
83 84 (W) 84 (E) 85 86 (W) 86 (E) 87 88 (W) 88 (E) 89 90
91 93 94 95 96 97 99 (238) H-1 H-2 H-3
Unsigned  A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3
Lists  Primary  Main - Intrastate - Suffixed - Future - Gaps
Auxiliary  Main - Future - Unsigned
Other  Standards - Business - Bypassed


Freeways and Expressways in the Tampa Bay Area
Image:Toll Florida 589.svg The Veterans Expressway/Suncoast Parkway Image:I-4.svg Interstate 4 Image:I-275.svg Interstate 275
Image:I-75.svg Interstate 75 Image:Toll Florida 618.svg Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway Image:I-375.svg Interstate 375
Image:I-175.svg Interstate 175


de:Interstate 4

es:Interstate 4 fr:Interstate 4 ja:州間高速道路4号線 pl:Autostrada międzystanowa nr 4 zh:4號州際公路

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