Another I-4 overhaul will begin construction in January, but some are not happy – Orlando Sentinel

Just three years after the lengthy and expansive I-4 Ultimate venture in Central Florida was finally completed, construction on Interstate 4 will start right back up again in January on another major overhaul of the notoriously clogged corridor.

But some long-time residents are unhappy, with one of the projects that is part of the latest overhaul set to construct a new road through a couple’s once-tranquil backyard.

The Florida Department of Transportation is currently moving ahead with three of the planned projects, together costing $1.7 billion, along the busiest section of the I-4 corridor in Polk and Osceola Counties in an effort to reduce travel time and offer easier connectivity to other roads.

At a public meeting on Tuesday evening, hundreds of Central Florida residents flocked to the Reunion Resort in Osceola County to learn more about projects 1, 2 and 5, part of the larger $2.5 billion Moving I-4 Forward initiative that aims to improve 14 miles of the highway within the next decade.

FDOT spokesperson Matthew Richardson said these three projects are a priority and could be completed faster than expected due to new design and building methods. In April, FDOT announced the opening of two additional lanes on I-4 in Polk and Osceola Counties, much earlier than planned.

“Like you saw with the congestion relief lanes that were eight months ahead of schedule, that just kind of shows an example of the speed that we’re working at,” Richardson said.

Project 1 will improve 2.6 miles of I-4 in Osceola County from east of World Drive to east of U.S. 192. This project will add ramps from I-4 and the proposed express lanes that will directly connect to State Road 417.

Project 2 will construct ramps from I-4 to State Road 429 and add a ramp to the Poinciana Connector. This project will also widen Old Lake Wilson Road from two to four lanes.

Phil and Diana Boyce attended the meeting to learn more specifically about Project 5, the most contentious, which will construct a new 3.5-mile road called the Poinciana Connector that will link to the Central Florida Expressway’s Poinciana Parkway Extension.

The road project will offer booming Poinciana a direct connection to I-4 and a ramp to County Road 532.

The Boyces, originally from New Jersey, bought a townhome in 2010 overlooking a small forest in Reunion, a master-planned resort and residential community in western Osceola County near Walt Disney World.

But now the couple is looking to sell their home as FDOT builds an elevated toll road connecting to I-4 just 100 feet from their backyard.

“I was hoping it would be done after my lifetime, but apparently it starts in January,” Diana said. “I’m overwhelmed.”

The couple owns a second slightly larger home in Reunion and had planned to retire there and sell the townhome. Now they say they’re worried about the value of the townhome with the Poinciana Connector in their backyard.

“If I was going to come out here [to the yard] that would be the last thing I would want is to have a highway,” Diana said. “I don’t think that would be the choice of many people.”

They also said they’re concerned about the noise and potential for crashes in their backyard, but they said there’s not much they can do.

“I’ll just wear earplugs if I have to,” Phil said. “I-4 is so backed up in both directions, so now they’re doing what they have to do and certain people have to pay the price.”

Some residents, though, say the overhaul can’t start soon enough.

Jim Albon is a retired engineer from Ohio who bought his home in Reunion roughly four years ago. He splits his time between the two states but spends the majority of it in Florida, he said.

“You know the traffic is out there,” Albon said. “Anytime you want to go anywhere, you’ve got to plan that it’ll take you 40 minutes or more.”

He said he hopes the project will alleviate some congestion, but he’s skeptical.

“The express lanes will help,” Albon said. “But the problem is that the more roads they build, the more people come in and continue to build more … and the infrastructure is not there to support them.”

Albon said he’s also doubtful that the projects will be completed as quickly as FDOT says.

“We’ll see,” Albon said. “It seems to be a lot of work to do in that little years.”

Gillian Wolfe and her husband Joe, who moved to the U.S. from Canada, bought a home along the I-4 corridor in Polk County about eight years ago. Wolfe said the couple travels at least once a year to the airport to visit their four kids and grandkids in Canada, she hopes the projects will decrease their travel time.

“We always leave at least an hour [early] to travel to the airport,” Gillian said. “I think the added lanes on I-4 would be a benefit.”

Project 3, not yet slated to begin, will improve 3.4 miles of I-4 from west of U.S. 27 to west of Champions Gate Boulevard in Polk County. The project will add two express lanes in each direction and add ramps connecting I-4 to the U.S. 27 interchange.

Project 4, expected to be built simultaneously with Project 3, will improve 2.1 miles of the interstate from west of Osceola parkway to east of World Center Drive in Orange and Osceola counties. This project will also extend express lanes, add ramps connecting I-4 to State Road 536 and reconstruct an aging bridge at the Osceola Parkway Interchange over Bonnet Creek.

All these projects will eventually connect to FDOT’s earlier $2.3 billion overhaul, the I-4 Ultimate, which was completed in 2022 and added express lanes, ramps and interchange improvements to a 21-mile stretch through metro Orlando.