ORLANDO, Fla. — Traffic on Florida's roadways has plummeted amid stay-at-home orders, so the state is hoping to speed up I-4 Ultimate construction.
- I-4 contractors will work on westbound I-4 through downtown Orlando
- Work will increase lane closures, road closures
- COMPLETE COVERAGE: I-4 Ultimate Project
Gov. DeSantis and FDOT Secretary Kevin Thibault announced Saturday that contractors will increase construction on the huge expansion through Seminole and Orange counties.
"The contractor will increase daytime operations by closing additional lanes along various sections of the highway and implementing short time road closures on some less traveled roads," DeSantis said
Several segments of the project will be accelerated by 1 to 2 months, including the State Road 434 at I-4 westbound through to I-4 at the State Road 408 interchange in downtown Orlando.
DeSantis says contractors will increase daytime operations by closing lanes, and also institute more short-time road closures.
"The fact that we don't have as many people on the roads, lets take advantage of that and make some progress," DeSantis said.
Before the pandemic, constant construction on I-4 left residents like Taylor Berry and Terence Boyd always guessing.
"You never know what time to really leave to get to work on time," Berry said.
They hope workers are staying healthy while building a better I-4, and hope the work will eventually ease their commutes.
"I think it's going to be a lot better, and I think it's great they're speeding it up. I think it's a great time to do that, as well," Berry said.
The announcement comes days after we learned FDOT would pay an additional $125 million to contractors for I-4 Ultimate, which is behind schedule and facing cost overruns.
General use lanes are still expected to open next year, while FDOT has allowed contractors in the public-private partnership to delay opening toll lanes.