The new Kirkman Road exit on I-4 opens today

The seemingly neverending I-4 Ultimate Project has completed a new exit from I-4 to Kirkman Road.

The new westbound exit to southbound Kirkman Rd (State Road 435) opened on Monday, October 30. Previously, drivers had to exit left, but the new ramp has drivers exiting almost half a mile sooner on the right.

Drivers who want the option of exiting onto either direction on Kirkman can use either Exit 75A to go northbound or Exit 75B to go southbound.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) reports that as many as 12,000 drivers use the exit every day, including confused tourists—one of the reasons for the new addition:

“Especially in this busy tourist area, drivers are expecting a right-hand exit, and at the last moment veering across two or three lanes of traffic to get to that left exit,” said I-4 Ultimate Project spokesperson Dave Parks. “So by moving it to the right hand side, we can set a more traditional driver expectation.”

FDOT hopes the new ramp to “allow for a greater capacity and free flow of motorists onto Kirkman Road,” as stated on the I-4 ultimate Project’s website.

This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2017.