Orlando Business Journal
Remaking 21 miles of Interstate 4 through downtown Orlando got a step closer to reality Feb. 1 with Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature giving the Florida Department of Transportation authority to move forward with the procurement process on the $2.1 billion project.
The state will host an I-4 Ultimate Project industry forum in Orlando March 4 to get feedback on replacing 21 miles of the highway from west of Kirkman Road to east of State Road 434.
If the state relies on a traditional pay-as-you-go approach to build the project, it would take 26 years to complete the 21 miles of I-4 improvements. With a private-public partnership — called a P3 — the project would be completed in five to six years once construction starts.
Under Florida law, a contractor-financed P3 project requires both the governor’s approval and a 14-day legislative consultation and notification period.
“Our goal is to have financials close on the project by the summer of 2014 with construction beginning later that year/early 2015,” FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad said in a prepared statement.