Target Zero: Distracted Driving Month

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recognizes June as Distracted Driving Month in collaboration with its Target Zero initiative. The monthlong campaign is designed to emphasize the significance of safe driving habits while encouraging motorists to eliminate distractions that typically occur behind the wheel. Target Zero is Florida’s statewide initiative to reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities due to traffic-related incidents to ZERO.

Any activity that takes away a driver’s physical, cognitive, or visual attention causes distracted driving. This can include texting, applying makeup, changing the radio station, eating, or reaching behind you to comfort a child in the backseat.

To help motorists eliminate distractions, FDOT has created a helpful toolkit, which includes a variety of playlists to help motorists stay relaxed behind the wheel while in traffic. Also included in the toolkit are informational tutorials on how drivers can activate the “Do Not Disturb” feature on their smartphone. When “Do Not Disturb” is enabled, an autoreply text is sent to any incoming text. In addition, the toolkit includes vibrant custom messages that users can adopt as their autoreply message.

In July 2019, Florida passed the Wireless Communications While Driving Law, which prohibits texting while driving and allows law enforcement officials to pull over drivers on the suspicion of texting and driving. The law also makes it illegal to use a handheld device while driving through a school zone or work zone.

FDOT urges drivers to eliminate distractions, especially when driving through an active work zone such as any of the I-4 Beyond the Ultimate construction areas across Orange and Osceola counties. When traveling through a work zone, drivers are advised to give their full attention to the roadway in front of them. Work zones may have cones, barrels, narrow or closed lanes, frequent stops, and crew members working along the road. Drivers should ensure distractions are eliminated to improve the safety of everyone on the road.

Before leaving for your next trip, remember to set the vibe while driving by selecting an FDOT-curated playlist and setting your phone to “Do Not Disturb.” Let’s get everyone home!

Temporary Detour Established at Eastbound I-4 and Central Florida Parkway (Exit 71)

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) broke ground on November 28, 2022 to transform the Daryl Carter Parkway overpass over Interstate 4 (I-4) into a partial interchange. This project in Orange County will make several improvements to the roads in the area.

As part of the improvements, crews are replacing existing drainage pipes located under Central Florida Parkway. Larger drainage pipes will replace them to help carry runoff more efficiently from nearby Big Sand Lake. As these pipes are replaced, crews need room to work safely. To provide space for the drainage work, FDOT has temporarily closed the right turn from the eastbound I-4 off ramp at Exit 71 onto eastbound Central Florida Parkway. The left turn lane onto westbound Central Florida Parkway remains open to traffic, but it presents too tight of a turn to allow driver to turn right, so a temporary detour has been established for motorists on eastbound I-4.

The detour begins at Exit 71 (Central Florida Parkway) on eastbound I-4, where the part of the exit ramp leading to eastbound Central Florida Parkway has been closed. Motorists who want to access that part of Central Florida Parkway will have to stay on I-4 eastbound until Exit 72 (State Road (S.R.) 528), where they will travel east on S.R. 528 to the International Drive exit. From there, motorists will take southbound International Drive and then they will have two options:

• Bear right onto Westwood Boulevard until they reach Central Florida Parkway.
• Continue south on International Drive until they reach Central Florida Parkway.

This detour will be in place until all replacement pipes have been installed. Motorists are not allowed to turn right onto eastbound Central Florida Parkway at the end of the Exit 71 ramp. The Florida Highway Patrol will maintain a periodic presence in the area while the detour is in place to ensure motorists aren’t making an illegal right from the ramp to eastbound Central Florida Parkway.

In addition to the drainage work, the Daryl Carter Parkway project improvements include modifying the overpass into a diverging diamond interchange (DDI), adding I-4 exit ramps from both directions to Daryl Carter Parkway, and constructing an eastbound entrance ramp to I-4 — a westbound entrance ramp will be part of a future project. A single, westbound express lane from west of Daryl Carter Parkway to west of Central Florida Parkway will also be constructed as part of this project, with two other segments of the lane being built as part of other projects.

For more information on the Daryl Carter Parkway project, visit i4beyond.com/darylcarter.

What Do You Think of I-4 Express?

I-4 Express, the managed lanes down the center of Interstate 4 (I-4) through parts of Orange and Seminole counties, has now been open for more than a year. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) wants to know what you now think of I-4 Express. Please take a few minutes to fill out our public opinion survey.

In a telephone survey conducted before I-4 Express opened, more than 72% of respondents said they were likely to use the express lanes once they opened. More than 53% of respondents said they were likely to use the lanes only when needed, and nearly 14% said they would use them only during rush hour. Many said they were looking forward to a more reliable travel time and another option to avoid congestion.

Now that motorists have had a year to use I-4 Express, we’d like to know how things have changed. Are you using the lanes more than expected? Are they making a difference in the reliability of your commute?

Anyone who regularly drives I-4 is welcome to complete the survey, whether you use I-4 Express or not. We’d also appreciate it if you would share the survey with your friends, family, and coworkers who use I-4. The more people who share their opinions of I-4 Express, the better.

Click this link to take the survey. You can also copy and paste the link into an email or social media post to share it with your network.

Stay in Touch with Sand Lake Road Construction Progress

Construction on the Interstate 4 (I-4) and Sand Lake Road (State Road (S.R.) 482) interchange began in May. Crews have already been busy clearing out vegetation along the I-4 exit and entrance ramps and putting up fencing around the work zones.

The end goal of the project is to convert the interchange to a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) and add a new loop ramp to connect westbound Sand Lake Road to southbound Turkey Lake Road. The loop ramp will replace the current left turn from westbound Sand Lake Road onto southbound Turkey Lake Road. Work also includes extending I-4 Express to west of Sand Lake Road and constructing a single, buffer-separated express lane in the westbound direction from west of Sand Lake Road that will tie in just west of Central Florida Parkway.

Commuters in the Sand Lake Road area and visitors to the Doctor Phillips and International Drive areas can stay up to date on construction progress and impacts through a variety of means. The I-4 Beyond the Ultimate advance alerts will send you an email or text message to let you know about upcoming closures. The I-4 Beyond the Ultimate newsletter and project updates deliver behind-the-scenes and timely news to your inbox. You can also follow us on Twitter and YouTube.

Remember to drive safely through the work zone. State law prohibits the use of handheld devices while driving through a work zone. Put it down, pay attention, and help our workers make it home to their families each night.

You can also find out more about the work being done in this area at the Sand Lake Road interchange project page.