Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) crews at the Interstate 4 (I-4) and Apopka-Vineland Road (State Road (S.R.) 535) interchange project are working to improve safety, traffic efficiency, and connectivity at this vital gateway to Central Florida’s tourism corridor. The numerous improvements coming to the interchange include a new loop ramp system, realigned and lengthened westbound I-4 ramps, increased storage for left- and right-turn lanes, and milling and resurfacing of Apopka-Vineland Road.

Over the past year, project crews laid the groundwork for three new roadway bridges at the interchange. Last month, crews reached a milestone by wrapping up pile driving operations.

Across the three new bridge locations, crews drove a total of 109 steel bridge piles into the soil using a hydraulic hammer held up by a large crane. These piles consist of a total of 11,481 feet of steel and serve as a sturdy foundation for roadway bridges, ensuring that the newly built structure laid atop the piles is secured to the ground below.

With pile driving complete, crews will form the substructure and superstructure of the bridge, starting with the construction of concrete columns directly onto the piles. Once the substructure is complete, crews will use cranes to place concrete beams atop the columns. Finally, crews will pour a new concrete bridge deck across the beams, which will serve as the driving surface for the new roadway.

Two of the three new bridges form part of a new loop ramp that will connect northbound Apopka-Vineland Road directly to westbound I-4, eliminating the need for motorists to turn left across traffic to access the interstate. This new loop ramp will increase efficiency and safety at the interchange by eliminating the traffic signal’s left-turn phase.

To facilitate construction of this new loop ramp alongside westbound I-4, crews shifted traffic at the westbound I-4 exit ramp to Apopka-Vineland Road — another milestone on the project. On the morning of August 17, traffic exiting westbound I-4 was shifted to a new road surface that passes under the first of two bridges that will form the future loop ramp. For drivers, the biggest change is that the entrance point for the ramp is now approximately 1,000 feet sooner, meaning motorists who wish to access Apopka-Vineland Road must exit westbound I-4 earlier than they did previously.

Now that traffic has been shifted, crews can begin constructing the remaining sections of the new loop ramp. This will include building up a base for the new road surface alongside westbound I-4. Crews are also constructing a new bridge across Apopka-Vineland Road that will serve as the second of two bridges for the new loop ramp. In the future, motorists using the new loop ramp will drive alongside westbound I-4 and merge onto I-4 after passing over Apopka-Vineland Road.

The third new bridge at the interchange will accommodate the extension of westbound I-4 Express in the median of I-4. Crews are constructing a single, buffer-separated westbound express lane from west of Daryl Carter Parkway to west of S.R. 536. This express lane extension is being constructed in three separate projects and will ultimately lengthen I-4 Express by ten miles from its current end point near Kirkman Road (S.R. 435) to west of S.R. 536.

To learn more about the project, visit I4Beyond.com/SR535.