Keri Doyle works at the Altamonte Pet Hospital in Altamonte Springs and has a lengthy commute on Interstate 4 every day.

  • Traffic shifts on I-4 and SR 436 interchange
  • Officials hope to alleviate traffic backups
  • Construction will happen up until Thanksgiving

"Anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours," Doyle said of her drive time.

Right outside her place of work is the always busy interchange of State Road 436 and I-4.

"There's always three to four accidents a day, coming and going," Doyle said.

Officials hope to change this by eliminating the amount of risks people take in order to avoid getting stuck in long lines behind multiple traffic signals.

"We've got a traffic signal on the west side of the interchange between Westmonte and Douglas that stops traffic,” said Dave Parks, with the "I-4 Ultimate" project. “You've got another signal right by the interchange that stops traffic. And then when you get on the east side as well."

On Wednesday, officials executed the first of many traffic shifts before the holidays.  

The I-4 westbound exit ramp to S.R. 436 was shifted left. More changes are coming to the interchange this month. This coming Monday morning, the I-4 eastbound exit ramp to S.R. 436 will get the same treatment. Closer to Thanksgiving, the eastbound on-ramp to I-4 from S.R. 436 will also be shifted to the outside edge.

"At the end of the day, when all the construction is done at 436, we'll eliminate a couple of traffic lights and create a free-flowing interchange with one traffic signal that will control all of the movements at that interchange," Parks said.

Officials said that these shifts will occur until Thanksgiving but not after. Because the construction is near the mall, officials don't want to disrupt holiday shopping.

As for Doyle, she is taking a cautiously optimistic approach to whether the new interchange will help congestion.

"It may. It may. I would like to see it bring a lot of great changes but, we'll see," she said.