OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Department of Transportation leaders say they are focusing on improvements to I-4 in Osceola County in 2024.

What You Need To Know

  • FDOT is expected to start construction on I-4 Express in Osceola County in late-2024 or 2025

  • In 2023, FDOT officially completed the I-4/Champions Gate Boulevard Diverging Diamond Interchange

  • In 2023, FDOT also opened two auxiliary lanes on I-4 in Osceola County

  • They say the goal of the improvements is to reduce traffic congestion

FDOT District 5 Secretary John Tyler says work will ramp up to build new toll express lanes to help alleviate congestion.

In 2023, FDOT officially completed a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) at I-4 and Champions Gate Boulevard, also known as County Road 532.

“According to recent data, the average morning travel time in 2023 on eastbound C.R. 532 is down by almost 30% compared to 2021, with average speeds having improved by a similar percentage,” FDOT said in an October release on their website. “The average morning travel time in 2023 on westbound C.R. 532 is down by over 12%, with average speeds having improved by over 16% compared to 2021, prior to the DDI’s implementation.”

Michael Megill, though, says he hasn’t noticed much of a change to his commute.

“It hasn’t gotten any better,” he said. “We had a lot of hopes it would get better. I think it only made it from horrible to just bad, because it’s got to be better than this.”

After 10 years of living in Davenport, Megill and his wife just purchased a home in Williamsburg.

The couple works near Orlando International Airport, and decided to move from the ChampionsGate area due to the traffic.

“From 6 o’clock in the morning until 11 o’clock at night, this is a parking lot,” Megill said while driving along I-4 in Osceola County.

Also in 2023, FDOT opened an extra lane, called an auxiliary lane, on I-4 in both directions in Osceola County.

Tyler said that addition has helped a little, but the big relief will come from new I-4 Express lanes coming to Osceola County.

As a part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Moving Florida Forward Initiative, $1.5 billion is being pumped into the plan to speed up construction that will include five free lanes and two toll lanes in each direction.

The toll lanes will go from Osceola Parkway down to Champions Gate Boulevard.

Living closer to the metro Orlando area, Megill is familiar with those types of toll lanes. I-4 Express has shown to reduce congestion on I-4 from Longwood to the Universal Orlando area since they opened nearly two years ago.

“I drove on those the other day and they were great,” he said. “We hopped into the express lane and there was no traffic and it was fine. It was absolutely fantastic.”

Construction on I-4 Express in Osceola County is expected to start in late 2024, but most likely in 2025. FDOT officials said there is no timeline for when the work will be finished.

Megill said that if I-4 Express came sooner to ChampionsGate, then there’s a chance he would have never put his house up for sale.

“The house that I’m living in now was almost paid off and I probably would have stayed if the commute and the traffic wasn’t so bad,” he said.

The new year will see continued work on the I-4 "tube" in Orange County as well.

More express lanes are coming to I-4 in Polk County as well.

Construction is expected to start in 2026 to build toll lanes on I-4 from Champions Gate Boulevard to US-27.