ORLANDO, Fla. — In just five years, your drive on I-4 through Osceola and Polk counties could be much easier.
For the first time, the Florida Department of Transportation has revealed a timeline for the major construction projects in the Moving I-4 Forward plan.
In April of 2025, the Florida Department of Transportation opened its congestion relief lanes on I-4 from U.S. 27 to World Drive
“It’s really life-changing relief for our commuters,” said Will Watts with FDOT.
Watts says that’s the goal of the entire $2.5 billion Moving I-4 Forward Plan.
In a Central Florida Expressway Authority meeting, he explained FDOT is focusing on 14 miles of I-4 between Osceola and Polk counties. The five projects will add two new express lanes in each direction from west of U.S. 27 to east of World Center Drive and State Road 536.
“A lot of folks are trying to get north into the Disney area from Osceola and Polk County, and it is unbelievable the amount of delays that were happening because of the growth,” Watts said.
Crews will also improve interchanges, add ramps and connectors, widen some local roads, and build a new road: the Poinciana Connector from County Road 532 to State Road 429.
FDOT says the timeline is much faster than previous projects.
“We are gonna be finished with this whole program by the summer of 2031, which is not pretty far away,” Watts said. “That’s fast in the world of transportation.”
The project is also building off lessons from the I-4 Ultimate project. That project started in 2015 and saw a handful of delays before express lanes opened in 2022.
“We took a lot of those lessons from I-4 Ultimate and how do we do it better the next time,” Watts said.
Moving I-4 Forward is using a new design model, contracting with three teams instead of just one to speed things up.
“Two key goals: How do we accelerate congestion relief early and how do we get done quicker?” Watts said.
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