I-4 Construction Weekly Updates and Discussion

I had started a thread on the News Board when this was news... but moving further updates and discussion here. That thread is
http://www.disboards.com/threads/massive-overhaul-of-i-4-through-orlando-started.3381324/

But ihere is a restatement of the project:

a complete redesign which will add 4 toll lanes down the middle of I-4 from Kirkman Rd. to Route 434. The work will be done by a private consortium called "I-4 Mobility." There is a deadline to complete work by (gulp!) March 2021. THe project is named I-4 Ultimate.

If you drive in FL and don't know how to use FL 417 as a bypass (formerly known as the Greenway)... over the next 6 years you will! There was already quite a bit of discussion on the linked thead about using FL 436 and the tolls needed, or use of Sunpass. E-Z Pass not accepted.

Construction updates on the project can be found here:
http://i4ultimate.com/\

NOTE: Corrected above to read FL 417 per following posts.

Just a small correction, the route formerly known as the Greenway is 417.

Whoops -- thanks. I must have been on cruise control this morning.

CORRECTED in Post #1.

I was going to say, SR436 goes from Apopka to the Airport and it's anything but a high speed limited access highway. I have used it in the past from Altamonte Springs to the airport when I was in a particularly cheap mood but no one is going to save any time taking it to avoid the I4 construction (well maybe they might )

However, if you took SR436 to Apopka and then US441 to SR429, you can go to WDW the back way to Hertzog Rd/Western Way and completely avoid I4/SR417. I don't think you will save any time that way but it's an option. SR429 is also a toll road, just so you know.

So if I was going back to Sanford to catch the Autotrain from WDW, would Beachline over to 417 be the best way to avoid this mess?

thepops said:

So if I was going back to Sanford to catch the Autotrain from WDW, would Beachline over to 417 be the best way to avoid this mess?

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Yes, the Sanford exit is where 417 begins, off I-4, so you're good to go. You'll need about $7.50 in change or cash for tolls. Generally toll lanes are separated as "SunPass" in the center, then a barrier between then "Exact Change" to the left and "Change" on the right, usually two cash lanes total, sometimes three. There is no rhyme or reason to the roll amounts. It can go from 75 cents to 2.00. We have a change jar in the kitchen that we throw everything into, so by the time we leave for the trip our tolls are covered. Florida gets a lot of dimes and nickels lol.

My suggestion when exiting for WDW is to take Exit 3 and not 6. 3 takes you around Gaylord Palms and into the main gate entrance (the one with the big arch). Exit 6 will take you onto World Drive, or turn right onto 535 to go to the DTD area. Traffic is usually heavy there, as folks are coming from 192, I-4 and 417 all at the same spot. It has taken us 1/2 hour to get to the DTD turn from exiting 417. Even if we stay at OKW, we will take the other exit.

Warning - if you decide to use GPS when you get onto 417, ignore it. It will tell you to turn off and go to I-4 at every exit on 417. After about 5-6 exits, it will finally give in and accept that you are staying on 417. Some folks have followed GPS and got into a merry-go-round of on and off 417, paying tolls with every exit. Not a good idea.

ParrotBill said:

Whoops -- thanks. I must have been on cruise control this morning.

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Hi PB,

You could go into your message and "Edit". It might be helpful to folks who find this thread and don't read past your original post.

I need some "Avoiding the I-4 potential construction delays for Dummies" help. We aren't traveling for 2 more months so I plan to check on the traffic situation on I-4 closer to our departure date. We will be arriving on a Sunday around noon, so if construction isn't affecting traffic very much at that time, we'll probably just stick to I-4 since the kids like to watch for familiar landmarks (Sea World, Universal, etc.) as we approach Disney. But I want to be prepared to take the alternate route if needed.

We're traveling to Disney in mid-June (again -- arriving at DW around noon on a Sunday). We'll be driving down I-95 from PA. We would normally just take I-4 straight to Disney but because of construction, we should exit I-4 at 417, correct? Where should we get off of 417 to get back over to I-4 so that we miss the construction? We're staying at Art of Animation and I would like to avoid the traffic mess at DTD, so we should take exit 65/Osceola Pkwy off of I-4, right?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

sharadoc said:

Hi PB,

You could go into your message and "Edit". It might be helpful to folks who find this thread and don't read past your original post.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I thought the ability to edit was lost but I found my signature was hiding the link for "edit" so I have corrected it.

bluezy said:

I need some "Avoiding the I-4 potential construction delays for Dummies" help. We aren't traveling for 2 more months so I plan to check on the traffic situation on I-4 closer to our departure date. We will be arriving on a Sunday around noon, so if construction isn't affecting traffic very much at that time, we'll probably just stick to I-4 since the kids like to watch for familiar landmarks (Sea World, Universal, etc.) as we approach Disney. But I want to be prepared to take the alternate route if needed.

We're traveling to Disney in mid-June (again -- arriving at DW around noon on a Sunday). We'll be driving down I-95 from PA. We would normally just take I-4 straight to Disney but because of construction, we should exit I-4 at 417, correct? Where should we get off of 417 to get back over to I-4 so that we miss the construction? We're staying at Art of Animation and I would like to avoid the traffic mess at DTD, so we should take exit 65/Osceola Pkwy off of I-4, right?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Click to expand...

You should definitely check back on construction and read the updates at i4ultimate.com a few days before you travel. At this time the restrictions are at night, so coming through Sunday afternoon you would be fine. If that changes, and weekend daytime closures are expected, then yes, your alternative is to use I-4 exit 101B to FL 417 South. You travel this a while and take exit 3 to Osceola Parkway. Bear right heading west. Pass the I-4 interchange and then at the traffic light turn right... and right again into Art of Animation.

if you have a smartphone, look at Google Maps with traffic turned on as soon as you get onto I-4. If you see any red on I-4, take the alternate.

ParrotBill said:

Thanks. I thought the ability to edit was lost but I found my signature was hiding the link for "edit" so I have corrected it.



You should definitely check back on construction and read the updates at i4ultimate.com a few days before you travel. At this time the restrictions are at night, so coming through Sunday afternoon you would be fine. If that changes, and weekend daytime closures are expected, then yes, your alternative is to use I-4 exit 101B to FL 417 South. You travel this a while and take exit 3 to Osceola Parkway. Bear right heading west. Pass the I-4 interchange and then at the traffic light turn right... and right again into Art of Animation.

if you have a smartphone, look at Google Maps with traffic turned on as soon as you get onto I-4. If you see any red on I-4, take the alternate.

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Thanks! I definitely will check on things a day or two before we leave but I wanted to make sure I knew what to do in case of bad construction traffic since it seems like we'll have to ignore the GPS in that situation. I have Google Maps on my phone and our GPS has live traffic, so we'll definitely keep an eye on things as we head into the area. Thanks again!

Thank God I fly into Tampa instead of Orlando. I am in WDW in 55 minutes (no traffic of course) but I am usually traveling on weekends and off peak times.

Construction Update just posted... the lane closures are expanding....

Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 from Kennedy Boulevard to Maitland Boulevard: one right lane closed.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 09:30 PM–07:00 AM: Removing dirt
Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Ramp Closure from Maitland Boulevard to EB I-4.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Crossing dump trucks
More Info
New Alert:
Intermittent Lane Closure on WB I-4 at Ivanhoe Boulevard: 1 lane closed, alternating right and left.
From Monday 04/27/15 to Wednesday 04/29/15 - 10:00 PM–06:00 AM: Clearing and grubbing
New Alert:
Intermittent Lane Closure on WB I-4 from New Hampshire Avenue to Colonial Drive: 1 right lane closed.
From Monday 04/27/15 to Thursday 04/30/15 - 08:30 PM–06:00 AM: Clearing and grubbing
New Alert:
Intermittent Lane Closure on Ramp from WB I-4 to Colonial Drive: 1 left lane closed.
From Monday 04/27/15 to Thursday 04/30/15 - 08:30 PM–06:00 AM: Clearing and grubbing
New Alert:
Intermittent Lane Closure on Ramp from WB I-4 to SB Kirkman Road: 1 right lane closed.
From Wednesday 05/06/15 to Thursday 05/07/15 - 08:30 PM–06:00 AM: Install barrier wall

Construction Update for the week of May 10 2015 from I4Ultimate.com. Note daytiem truck traffic around Kirkman. Could cause some slowdowns.

Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 from Kennedy Boulevard to Maitland Boulevard: 1 right lane closed.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 09:30 PM–07:00 AM: Removing dirt
Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Ramp Closure from Maitland Boulevard to EB I-4: 1 right lane closed.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Crossing dump trucks
More Info
Continuing:
Intermittent Daily Lane Closure on WB New Hampshire Street from Gurtler Court to Oakmont Lane: 1 lane closed.
From Monday 05/04/15 to Friday 05/29/15 - 09:00 AM–04:00 PM: Staging pile driving equipment
Continuing:
Intermittent Daily Lane Closure on WB Long Street from Boston Avenue to Woods Avenue: 1 left lane closed.
Monday 05/11/15 - 09:00 AM–03:00 PM: Drain inspection
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on NB SR-435/Kirkman Road at the Ramp from EB I-4 to NB Kirkman Road: 2 right lanes closed.
From Sunday 05/10/15 to Friday 05/15/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Install barrier wall
New Alert:
Intermittent Daily Shoulder Closure on EB I-4 at SR-435/Kirkman Road: left shoulder closed.
From Monday 05/11/15 to Tuesday 05/12/15 - 06:00 AM–05:00 PM: Trucks entering and leaving
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on NB Garland Avenue from Livingston Street to Marks Street: 1 left lane closed.
From Tuesday 05/12/15 to Friday 05/15/15 - 12:00 AM–06:00 AM: Drilling
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 from US-441/Orange Blossom Trail to Kaley Street: 1 left lane closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Tuesday 05/19/15 - 10:30 PM–06:30 AM: Pavement drilling
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on WB Long Street from Ramp from NB Tampa Avenue to WB SR-408 to Rio Grande Avenue: 1 right lane closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–06:00 AM: Debris removal
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on NB Tampa Avenue from Long Street to SR-408 ramp to Tampa Avenue: all lanes closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–06:00 AM: Bridge work

Construction for week of May 17
tldr? Some lane closures at night continue. Daytime should not be any worse than usual.
------------------------------------------

New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on SB SR-435/Kirkman Road north of the I-4 interchange: 1 left lane closed.
From Sunday 05/17/15 to Wednesday 05/20/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Install barrier wall
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 at the Ramp from Ivanhoe Boulevard to EB I-4: 1 right lane closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Wednesday 05/20/15 - 09:30 PM–07:00 AM: Install construction entrance
New Alert:
Continuous Road Closure on Midiron Drive at Minnesota Avenue: all lanes closed.
Beginning Monday 05/18/15: Install drainage
New Alert:
Intermittent Daily Lane Closure on NB Formosa Avenue south of Minnesota Avenue: 1 lane closed.
From Monday 05/25/15 to Friday 06/05/15 - 07:00 AM–05:30 PM: Install underground pipe
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on WB I-4 at SR-414/Maitland Boulevard: 1 right lane closed.
From Tuesday 05/26/15 to Friday 05/29/15 - 08:30 PM–06:00 AM: Asphalt work
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on WB I-4 from Robinson Street to Division Avenue: 1 left lane closed.
From Tuesday 05/26/15 to Saturday 05/30/15 - 08:30 PM–06:00 AM: Drilling
New Alert:
Intermittent Nightly Ramp Closure on the ramp from I-4 EB to Princeton Street: all lanes closed.
From Monday 06/01/15 to Thursday 06/04/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Temporary widening
Reminder:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on NB Tampa Avenue from Long Street to the Ramp from SR-408 to Tampa Avenue: all lanes closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–06:00 AM: Bridge work
Reminder:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on WB Long Street from the Ramp from NB Tampa Avenue to WB SR-408 to Rio Grande Avenue: 1 right lane closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–06:00 AM: Debris removal
Reminder:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 from US-441/Orange Blossom Trail to Kaley Street: 1 left lane closed.
From Monday 05/18/15 to Tuesday 05/19/15 - 10:30 PM–06:30 AM: Pavement drilling
Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Lane Closure on EB I-4 from Kennedy Boulevard to SR-414/Maitland Boulevard: 1 right lane closed.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 09:30 PM–07:00 AM: Remove dirt
Continuing:
Intermittent Nightly Ramp Closure on the Ramp from Maitland Boulevard to EB I-4: 1 right lane closed.
From Sunday 04/12/15 to Friday 05/22/15 - 10:00 PM–05:00 AM: Crossing dump trucks
More Info
Continuing:
Intermittent Daily Lane Closure on WB New Hampshire Street from Gurtler Court to Oakmont Lane: 1 lane closed.
From Monday 05/04/15 to Friday 05/29/15 - 09:00 AM–04:00 PM: Staging pile driving equipment

PB. After we spend a week on site we move to Marriott's Harbour Lake, on Lake Willis, just south of Sea World. Like We still plan 4 full days at the WDW parks and at least a day at Blizzard Beach. ( Hey it's my Mom's time share and its free at least for me. ) I don't know the back ways like you do. Can you give me some advice on how to avoid the bottlenecks. It will be the first two weeks in June.

Thanks for the updates! Coming from Sanford Airport on a Monday evening-will keep checking the updates

Thumper1066 said:

PB. After we spend a week on site we move to Marriott's Harbour Lake, on Lake Willis, just south of Sea World. Like We still plan 4 full days at the WDW parks and at least a day at Blizzard Beach. ( Hey it's my Mom's time share and its free at least for me. ) I don't know the back ways like you do. Can you give me some advice on how to avoid the bottlenecks. It will be the first two weeks in June.

Click to expand...

Sure thing!
1. I recommend you leave WDW using World Center Drive, which you get on from Buena Vista Drive, or you can tell me where you are staying for something more specific getting out of WDW. World Center Drive is also FL 536 outside of WDW.
2. Heading east, you cross over I-4, pass the Orlando World Marriott and Nickolodean resorts, then go straight through the big intersection at FL 5335 (S. Apopka - Vineland Rd.)
3. Just before you get onto FL 417 look for the left turn onto International Drive South.
4. Go only about a mile and half and turn left onto Westwood Blvd.
5. Marriott Harbour Lake on your left just a half mile in.
Follow this along on Google Maps and you will avoid the Lake Buena Vista traffic and avoid spending 10 minutes on one mile of I-4 !

Monykalyn said:

Thanks for the updates! Coming from Sanford Airport on a Monday evening-will keep checking the updates

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You are welcome, glad to have something to do each week on Monday other than start a new work week!

Thank you. We will be coming from POR if it makes any difference in the route.

My family I leave in 8 days. We are staying overnight in Jacksonville on Friday and heading to the Yacht Club on Saturday morning. Is 417 our best bet on a Saturday? If so, what exit should we take off 417 to arrive at the Yacht Club. Thanks a bunch!

Thumper1066 said:

Thank you. We will be coming from POR if it makes any difference in the route.

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That makes it easy! you are right near the interchange to get onEPCOT Center Drive which turns into World Center Drive... near the corner with the Vacation Club Sign... follow the signs to get to I-4 but don't exit to I-4.. go straight!

ForeverDisney6793 said:

My family I leave in 8 days. We are staying overnight in Jacksonville on Friday and heading to the Yacht Club on Saturday morning. Is 417 our best bet on a Saturday? If so, what exit should we take off 417 to arrive at the Yacht Club. Thanks a bunch!

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On a Saturday morning you have a good chance of I-4 being clear all the way to Exit 67 (EPCOT Center Drive). Watch Google Maps if you can when driving I-4. If you see much yellow or red then get on FL 417 and go all the way to Exit 6, World Center Drive. Go straight and it turns into EPCOT Center Drive, follow signs to EPCOT resorts (same intersection as above!)