BARTOW, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced significant new initiatives to improve traffic flow and transportation infrastructure during a news conference in Bartow on Thursday.
Speaking at the Florida Department of Transportation District 1 Headquarters, the announcement centered of a 17-mile expansion of Interstate 4 lanes in Hillsborough County, from I-75 to County Line Road.
Originally scheduled to begin in 2037, DeSantis said the project will now start a decade earlier.
“It will increase reliable traffic flow, and it will give people a better option to be able to get from the Tampa area into Central Florida or, vice versa,” said DeSantis.
In addition to the highway expansion, the governor revealed plans for a new truck parking facility at the I-4 and Polk Parkway interchange in Polk County.
The facility will add 100 parking spots for freight transporters, addressing a critical need for safe and convenient truck parking along the busy corridor.
The third major announcement involves Florida becoming a national hub for advanced air mobility technology. At the Paris Air Show earlier this year, DeSantis and his team engaged with aerospace and aviation leaders about innovative electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or “vertiports.”
The battery-powered aircraft can carry three to five passengers over short distances—up to about 60 miles—making them ideal for quick trips between urban centers like Tampa and Orlando.
Florida will build two vertiports at the FDOT SunTrax testing facility near Bartow, creating the nation’s first advanced air mobility test track with dedicated airspace for research and development.
“This will be the nation’s first advanced air mobility test track, and it will have dedicated airspace, driving innovative research and development for this new technology,” DeSantis said.
The governor also highlighted the broader Moving Florida Forward initiative, launched in 2023, which has accelerated more than 20 major infrastructure projects statewide, totaling over $7 billion in additional funding.
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