(abbreviated '''I-4''') is a 132.30-mile (212.91 km)
Intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of
Florida ,
United States . It goes from
Interstate 275 in
Tampa, Florida () to
Interstate 95 at
Daytona Beach, Florida (). It also has the
Florida Department Of Transportation designation of '''Florida State Road 400''', but only a small portion of the route is signed at the east end.
The combination of the
Tampa ,
Orlando and
Daytona Beach Metropolitan Areas is often referred to as the , since the freeway connects all three. In the
2004 U.S. Presidential Election , the I-4 corridor, a site of significant growth, was a focus of political activity within the
Swing State of Florida. Communities along the I-4 corridor were perceived by both major political parties as having higher proportions of
Undecided Voters as compared to more
Republican or
Democratic -leaning portions of the state.
]]
Hurricane Charley is sometimes referred to locally as the . The storm's path followed closely to Interstate 4 for its last 100 miles (160 km) and caused widespread damage in central Florida.
Bolded cities are officially-designated
Control Cities for signs.
This road is very close to a true diagonal route. It goes further east-west than north-south, though it would probably still be even-numbered even if it didn't, given that it only intersects odd-numbered Interstates at right angles. Throughout most of
Orange County , I-4 travels in almost a north-south direction.
The
Bridge Over The St. Johns River , originally a single four-lane span, replaced with two three-lane spans in
2003 , is now named the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
When it was first built, Interstate-4 entered
St. Petersburg, Florida over the
Howard Frankland Bridge while
I-75 ended at the interchange known as
Malfunction Junction in downtown Tampa (a derisive adaptation of "
Conjunction Junction " so called because of extended construction and dangerous curves which brings traffic to a crawl in every direction every
Rush Hour ). I-4 was truncated to Malfunction Junction in
1971 with I-75 extended over the bridge. Eventually, that stretch was again renamed to become part of
I-275 . The interchange was rebuilt in
2004 and
2005 , and I-4 is under staged renovations to expand it from four to six lanes. Some of this work is complete.
Federal transportation bill in
2005 .
While the entire length of I-4 carries the hidden designation of State Road 400, there is a three mile long stretch of signed SR 400 extending from the northeast terminus of I-4 to an intersection with
U.S. Route 1 (
SR 5 ) in
Daytona Beach .
This is the lowest-numbered Interstate Highway, not including Interstates in
Hawaii ;
I-5 is the lowest-numbered north-south Interstate.
The fierce rivalry between the
Tampa Bay Storm and
Orlando Predators Arena Football League teams has been penned as the War on I-4.
The eastbound exit to Robinson Street (,
2006
The new ,
2006
Shields are shown at intersections with other Interstates.
