Construction coming to SR-417

[joelkfla]

Heads up: SR-417, the southern route between WDW and MCO, will be experiencing construction from the end of this year, possibly into 2023. This is the route that accepts E-ZPass. From the CFX newsletter:

Work to widen SR 417 from International Drive to SR 528 is scheduled to begin in late 2020. Lanes will be added to meet the demands of Central Florida's growing population and improve traffic flow on one of the area's busiest expressways. Work will be broken into five phases to minimize the impact to drivers. Click here to read more about this project.

As a reminder, SR 528, the northern route, has recently installed Express Lanes, in which a transponder is mandatory. It appears that using them with a rental car toll-by-plate system would be a violation subject to a fine. E-ZPass also is not accepted. The regular lanes are open to everyone.

ETA: SunPass.com says that rental vehicles enrolled in the rental company's toll-by-plate program are permitted to use Express Lanes.

 

[OKW Lover]

Looks like the work on the segments between WDW and MCO will all be started by Spring 2021. Also, each segment is estimated to take 2 years to complete.