ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.  — Federal stimulus funds are being used to help fast-track a project to add an additional toll lane on I-4 through the attractions area.

The Florida Department of Transportation plans to use money from the COVID-19 stimulus package approved by Congress last year to pay for part of the project, which will add a single toll lane to I-4 west from Universal Orlando to Walt Disney World.

FDOT officials have dubbed it the "Tube."

FDOT is concerned congestion will form where the already built I-4 west toll lanes end near Kirkman Road. Toll lane drivers will be squeezed back into the existing lanes near Universal Orlando.

“There’s going to be accidents at that merge,” said Steve Boyd, a local Uber driver, “because it is a very dysfunctional merge lane.”

The “Tube” will be a single toll lane, separated from the existing lanes, that runs from near Kirkman Road past Epcot Center Drive (State Road 536).

“This will allow the longer-distance trips on the westbound express lanes to avoid congestion on the I-4 general-use lanes and provide a reliable trip through the area,” FDOT Public Information Director Jessica Ottaviano said.

FDOT hasn’t released a price tag for the project, but Ottaviano says the department’s value engineering approach, along with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, will help fast-track the project, which is expected to be open to the public in early 2026.

I-4 Ultimate work is expected to wrap up soon after years of construction to reconfigure 21 miles of the interstate from Kirkman Road to State Road 434 in Longwood. The express lanes, which are the four toll lanes, are expected to open by the end of February.

FDOT has already begun work on I-4 Beyond the Ultimate, the department’s plan to ease congestion on I-4 north and south of the I-4 Ultimate project.

A public meeting was held Thursday regarding some of those projects. FDOT seeks feedback on its projects to reconstruct the I-4 and Sand Lake Road interchange, constructing a new I-4 interchange with Daryl Carter Parkway and adding a portion of the “Tube.”

Members of the public can attend from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 11184 S. Apopka Vineland Road or watch from a computer or mobile device by registering in advance at fdot.tips/i4meeting.