Highway in Florida
State Road 408
(
SR 408
), officially named the
Spessard L. Holland East?West Expressway
, is a
controlled-access
toll road
running east?west through
Orlando, Florida
,
United States
. It is owned and operated by the
Central Florida Expressway Authority
(CFX), except for the westernmost mile (1.5 km), which is owned by
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise
as a connection to
Florida's Turnpike
. The road runs from the Turnpike in
Gotha
, east through downtown
Orlando
, where it intersects with
I-4
, ending near
SR 50
south of the
University of Central Florida
. The road is named for
Spessard L. Holland
.
A short connection to
SR 417
, originally part of SR 408, was a spur of SR 408,
[3]
and is sometimes labeled
State Road 4080
.
[4]
The spur has been removed and the interchange with SR 417 has been revamped. The
right-of-way
where SR 408 once ended at SR 50 west of
SR 435
(Kirkman Road) was once called
State Road 4081
.
[5]
This spur is now a drainage basin.
Route description
[
edit
]
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(
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SR 408 begins at
Florida's Turnpike
, heading east towards West Colonial Drive (
SR 50
) near
Ocoee
. After the interchange with Good Homes Road (exit 3), the tollway passes through the Hiawassee barrier toll, the first of four mainline toll barriers. From there, SR 408 serpentines eastward through the neighborhoods of
Orlo Vista
and
Pine Hills
making major junctions with
State Road 435
(Kirkman Road), passing through the Pine Hills barrier toll east of Pine Hills Road,
State Road 423
(John Young Parkway), and
U.S. Route 441
(
Orange Blossom Trail
), with the
Citrus Bowl
being accessible from the Orange Blossom Trail exit. Motorists heading east enter the Orlando city limits at mile marker 8, where they are greeted with a view of the high-rise skyline of
Central Orlando
. The East?West Expressway passes through a major stack interchange with
Interstate 4
in Downtown and proceeds eastward to the Conway Toll Plaza, followed by major junctions with
State Road 436
(Semoran Boulevard), and
State Road 417
(Central Florida Greeneway). The route continues through the Dean Road Toll Plaza and the exits to
State Road 434
(Alafaya Trail) and
State Road 50
(East Colonial Drive). The tollway's eastern terminus is Challenger Parkway, however Challenger Parkway continues until Alafaya Trail.
SR 408 runs almost entirely parallel to
State Road 50
throughout its entire route.
Tolls
[
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]
There are four mainline toll plazas on the tollway. Each of them have at least two express lanes dedicated to
E-Pass
/
SunPass
for
electronic toll collection
which do not require motorists to stop at a booth and lanes dedicated to cash collection. Excepting the Mills off ramp, which has only two lanes for exact change, the ramp toll plazas have both a lane dedicated to ETC and a lane dedicated to exact change only with no change provided.
The current toll rates took effect in July 2012.
[6]
History
[
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]
Initial segment
[
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]
The
Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority
had been formed in 1963 for the purpose of building the
Bee Line Expressway
. In early 1966, while that road was still under construction, Governor
Haydon Burns
asked the OOCEA to look into an east?west
freeway
across downtown
Orlando
to relieve traffic on
State Road 50
(Colonial Drive). An engineering study recommended a western terminus at SR 50 west of
State Road 435
(Kirkman Road) and an eastern terminus at SR 50 east of
Goldenrod Road
(
State Road 15A
). One alternate ran close to SR 50, while the other ? which was chosen by June 1969 ? ran further south. Bonds were sold in May 1971. In December of that year, the OOCEA voted to name it the
Spessard Lindsay Holland East?West Expressway
, in honor of
Spessard Holland
, who had just retired from representing Florida in the
U.S. Senate
.
Groundbreaking
was held just east of
Semoran Boulevard
on February 5, 1972.
[7]
The final design took SR 408 across
Interstate 4
just south of Anderson Street. The
interchange
? a
double trumpet
? connected to I-4 south of Gore Street, and resulted in the closure of four of the six ramps at Gore Street, which had intersected I-4 with a six-ramp
partial cloverleaf
. (The loops were in the southwest and southeast quadrants.) To the east, SR 408 crossed Lake Underhill. East of
Goldenrod Road
, the decision was made in 1970 to temporarily include three
at-grade intersections
at Chickasaw Trail, Valencia College Lane and Millinocket Lane.
[7]
Former East?West Expressway shield, with an
orange
The west half, from SR 50 to Mills Avenue, opened October 26, 1973. The rest was completed by December 11. The two barrier toll plazas ? Holland West and Holland East ? each charged 20 cents, while the ramp tolls ? present at
Orange Blossom Trail
, Mills Avenue, Bumby Avenue, Conway Road and
Semoran Boulevard
, charged 10 cents. The
Florida Department of Transportation
took over operation and maintenance, giving revenues to the OOCEA. The final cost of the 13.3-mile (21.4 km) road was about $89 million.
[7]
Most tolls were doubled on January 1, 1987.
[7]
Eastern extension
[
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]
An aerial view of the former
single-point urban interchange
with Valencia College Lane/SR 4080.
Prior to the start of construction on the eastern extension, the
Northeastern Beltway
(
State Road 417
) was built north from the existing east end of the East?West Expressway at Colonial Drive. As part of this project, in 1987 and 1988, two ramps were added to the
Goldenrod Road
interchange to make it full, and the three
at-grade intersections
were removed ? Chickasaw Trail became an overpass, Valencia College Lane became an
interchange
, and Millinockett Lane was simply cut. Ramp tolls were added at Valencia College Lane and SR 50, adding to the cost of traveling the original East?West once tolling on the new road began January 1, 1989.
[7]
By 1984, the alignment of the eastern extension of SR 408 had been chosen. The area was planned to be developed, and the OOCEA hoped to build the road before development made that impossible. Construction began in 1987, and the west piece, from existing SR 408 (redesignated SR 4080) to Rouse Road, opened May 12, 1989. The rest of the six-mile (10 km) road opened in June, with a total cost of $105 million. This project included a full
interchange
with the planned
Southeastern Beltway
(opened April 14, 1990), the Dean Road barrier toll, as well as a connection at the east end to the
Central Florida Research Park
. A wide
median
was left where the road curves north to end at SR 50 for further extension, but the land to the east has since been developed.
[7]
Western extension
[
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]
A connection to
Florida's Turnpike
and the planned
Western Beltway
was studied in 1985. (The Beltway, which would have run where Clarke Road now is, was soon shifted west.) Construction on the 4.5-mile (7 km) extension began in mid-1989 and was completed on October 8, 1990, costing $102 million total. The former west end at SR 50 west of Kirkman Road was temporarily designated SR 4081 during construction, and became a
retention pond
. A fourth barrier toll ? the Hiawassee Road plaza ? was added to the road. The extension was designed to have a full
interchange
with the Turnpike, but originally only the north-pointing ramps were built. The full
interchange
with the Turnpike was completed in August 2006. A temporary
ticket system
booth was installed until the Turnpike switched to a coin system in 1991.
[7]
Later changes
[
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]
Tolls were again raised July 1, 1990, to 75 cents at barrier tolls and 50 cents on ramps. After public backlash, an experiment began October 11, 1992, in which some of the changes were reverted. The Hiawassee Road and Dean Road barriers were dropped back to 50 cents, and ramp tolls at Hiawassee Road, Valencia College Lane, Dean Road and Rouse Road were cut to 25 cents. The OOCEA board voted on June 17, 1993, to make the changes permanent.
[7]
Due to confusion resulting from the four named toll roads in the Orlando area (East?West Expressway,
Bee Line Expressway
,
Eastern Beltway
and
Seminole County Expressway
), the OOCEA decided in 1992 to use the numbers that had already been designated by the
Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT). The old
orange
symbol was replaced by the number 408 in the new toll road symbol, recently approved by FDOT. Signs were changed in 1993.
[7]
At some point in the late 1990s, the
John Young Parkway
(SR 423)
interchange
was completed; it had formerly only had ramps to and from the east.
The rebuilt Hiawassee Road toll plaza with express E-Pass lanes
All the mainline toll plazas were reconstructed with express
E-Pass
lanes in the latter half of the 2000s. On November 10, 2006, the new Pine Hills Main Toll Plaza opened 2 miles (3.2 km) west as a replacement of the now demolished Holland West Toll Plaza. The new toll plaza features three express
E-Pass
lanes in both directions with open road tolling.
At the western end of the expressway a new set of ramps to
Florida's Turnpike
opened in August 2006. Previously it was only possible for westbound traffic to go northbound on the Turnpike. A new ramp allows traffic to also go southbound on the Turnpike. Likewise, previously only southbound Turnpike traffic could exit onto eastbound TOLL 408. A new ramp on the northbound Turnpike allows traffic to enter eastbound TOLL 408. New west facing ramps opened in March 2007 at Good Homes Road, joining pre-existing east facing ramps.
Starting in September 2003, a $600 million widening project occurred in the central and western part of the road. As part of the project, two through lanes were added along the entire length of the expressway from Hiawassee Road in the west to Oxalis Road (just east of the SR 436 interchange) in the east. The section from downtown Orlando to Hiawassee Road was completed in Spring 2007. The entire project was completed in June 2010.
In the summer of 2010, the Expressway Authority began the widening of SR 408 from Oxalis Avenue to Goldenrod Road as well as the widening of the SR 408 Chickasaw Trail Bridge. This project was completed in March 2012.
[8]
In addition, the interchange with SR 417 was expanded. This resulted in the elimination of SR 4080 and the interchange with Valencia College Lane. Traffic to Valencia College was redirected to Chickasaw Trail and Dean Road.
[9]
On October 13, 2016, Central Florida Expressway board members approved to rename a portion of SR 408 after professional golfer
Arnold Palmer
. State Representative
Mike Miller
and State Senator
David H. Simmons
sponsored legislation for renaming the road, which was signed into law by Governor
Rick Scott
on June 14, 2017. The section of SR 408 between Kirkman Road and Clarke Road was renamed the Arnold Palmer Expressway on July 1, 2017.
[10]
A
stack interchange
with
Interstate 4
near downtown
Orlando
replaced the original double-trumpet interchange in recent years. The first construction phase began in April 2006 and was completed in November 2008. Due to a lack of funds, the rest of the interchange project was ultimately postponed until the I-4 Ultimate project. Following the first phase, the ramp that originally handled all traffic merging from I-4 only handled traffic from I-4 eastbound, which left abandoned lanes. A
ramp stub
was constructed in advance of the completion the conversion to
stack interchange
on SR 408 westbound.
[11]
The
Florida Department of Transportation
was responsible for this project. On May 19, 2020, Governor
Ron DeSantis
formally opened the reconstructed SR 408 ramps with I-4. This was completed as part of the acceleration of I-4 Ultimate improvement project as part of the lack of traffic in Florida due to stay-at-home orders that were implemented within the state of Florida during the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
Future
[
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]
Eastern Extensions
[
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]
The OOCEA 2025 Master Plan (2000) suggested extending SR 408 further east toward the west end of
SR 520
.
[12]
In the OOCEA 2030 Master Plan, this proposed extension was further extended to
I-95
in
Brevard County
.
[13]
So far, the SR 408 Eastern Extension project has been put on hold.
[1]
The alternative solution, dubbed the Colonial Parkway has been shelved by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE)
[14]
so as of now the extension is still sitting on hold
Talks of extending SR 408 south past
SR 528
, Nova Road, down to
US 192
, named the Northeast Connector Expressway Extension (NECEE), a CF&M study done the
Central Florida Expressway Authority
.
[15]
This further extension would take SR 408 from the Challenger Parkway Interchange with
SR 50
/East Colonial Drive over to the proposed terminus at SR 50 near the SR 50/
SR 520
then down southward to US 192. But the Southward extensions won't become a reality until after 2040 since these are part of a development plan dubbed the North Ranch Master Plan in
Osceola County
[16]
Western Improvements
[
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]
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is currently planning to widen
Florida's Turnpike
from 8 to 12 lanes from SR 408 in
Gotha
to
SR 50
/West Colonial Drive near
Oakland
and
Clermont
which includes interchange improvements at Florida's Turnpike/
SR 429
(Daniel Webster Western Beltway) and SR 408 by constructing an 8 lane (4 lanes in both directions) Collector/Distributor System, connecting SR 408 with SR 429 without having to take Florida's Turnpike mainline, which helps drastically decrease the congestion and weaving between the two expressways on the Turnpike.
[17]
Exit list
[
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]
The entire route is in
Orange County
.
Challenger Parkway
[
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]
Route description
[
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]
Challenger Parkway (local/non-tolled) begins right after SR 408 ends at an interchange with SR 50. It then intersects with Woodbury Road then turns westward, intersecting with 2 streets with a traffic stop, Ingenuity Drive and Challenger Tech Court then ends at SR 434 (Alafaya Trail) in a traffic stop.
See also
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
KML is from Wikidata