 | ||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
[ Back to Highways Main Page ]
 Interstate 4
Total length: 132 miles (212 km) States traversed & length in each:
Major cities along route:
Junctions with non-related Interstates:
Related loops and spurs:
Length I’ve traveled: From western terminus to Exit 1 (FL 585/21st St.); from Exit 3 Time zones:
Counties traversed: A quick hypertext drive: An intra-state route, completely in Florida, Interstate 4 serves to tie together the Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolitan area, the tourist attractions of Orlando and central Florida, and the “Space Coast” and nearby areas of Florida’s Atlantic coast. Except for a few man-made grades between adjacent grade-separated crossings, particularly in downtown Orlando, the entire route is almost as flat as a billiards table. Much of the route, particularly north and east of Orlando, runs more north-south than east-west. At its western end, as of summer 2006, I-4 is reduced to four lanes by a construction project. Beyond the work area, it is a six-lane freeway out to I-75, where it picks up another lane in each direction. Shortly after crossing from Hillsborough County into Polk County, I-4 then drops to six lanes and very quickly thereafter back down to four. The stretch from that point to just before Disney World has seen terrible congestion become an everyday occurrence; work is being done to widen this stretch. For a short distance, I-4 becomes an eight-lane highway, then narrows back down to six lanes approaching Orlando. Some sharp curves in downtown Orlando necessitate a 50-mph speed limit. Six lanes are maintained well into Volusia County before I-4 drops back to four lanes near Deltona. From there, the final 20 miles are flat and almost straight to the eastern terminus at Interstate 95, a mere one mile south of the famed Daytona International Speedway. |