ORLANDO, Fla.,None — We were the first to tell you last week about that new plan to expand I-4. But this project still has a long way to go.
On Tuesday, Winter Park Congressman John Mica introduced a federal highway bill to the House Transportation Committee that would lift the ban on tolling federal highways while keeping free lanes free.
He said it paves the way for that expansion to start in about three to four years.
Mica wants to get his bill on the House floor in two weeks. The Senate has its own version.
He said new toll lanes along I-4 will prevent having to raise the gas tax or other taxes to pay for expansion. The public voted down a plan to charge tolls on I-4 almost 10 years ago because it involved tolling in some currently free lanes. A federal ban on I-4 tolls followed.
"But what we say is if you have additional right of way or inside median, any of this other space you can create new capacity and you can use tolls to pay for it," Mica said.
WFTV talked to I-4 drivers who would be willing to pay tolls on I-4 if they still have as many free lanes.
"It'll get traffic moving smoother and get us home quicker," Tiffanie Valdez said.
"I ride the tolls anyway, so it doesn't matter to me if I want to go somewhere, I would pay for it," Darius Trimble said.
Transportation experts helped him eliminate unnecessary red tape in the approval process.
"We bring in public-private partnerships, which can build them quicker, and then we streamline the process," Mica said.
The Florida Department of Transportation plans to hold a forum for private investors sometime this year to get proposals for the remaining $900 million needed for the $1.8 billion project, and wants to get started in two years.
Mica said he believes adding toll lanes would allow the drivers in the free lanes to go 50 percent faster than they can now, but the highway will be torn up for years before that happens.
WFTV
