A major off-ramp on eastbound State Road 408 in downtown Orlando will be shut down for nearly 6 months next year.
- Orange Avenue exit from eastbound SR 408 to close next year
- Ramp will be closed for almost 6 months for widening work
- Construction work will be around the clock, FDOT says
The Orange Avenue exit, which is exit 10C, will be temporarily closed by the Florida Department of Transportation as a part of the "I-4 Ultimate" project, the Central Florida Expressway Authority said Thursday.
Construction won’t start until May of next year, but it’s scheduled to last over 5 months.
During that construction period, FDOT has to realign the ramp, because the end goal is to make S.R. 408 wider. Transportation officials say that work on S.R. 408 has been part of the overall plan for the I-4 Ultimate project.
Almost every ramp will need some work, they said.
During the time the Orange Avenue exit will be closed, drivers will have to get off at the next exit, 11B, the Mills Avenue exit. To get back onto Orange Avenue, motorists will make a left on Mills and a left on South Street.
FDOT said it looked at other options, but given the time frame of completion, this closure made the most sense.
“This is less of an impact from a time standpoint and less of an impact to the area around it," said Loreen Bobo, I-4 Ultimate's construction program manager. "We are not going to be putting additional fill into the lake. We are not going to reconstruct the pedestrian bridge, which would be disruptive to that area as well.”
For people who live in the area, construction crews will work day and night. As for noise, FDOT said pile-driving would be done during the day. At night, construction won't be as loud, the agency said.