SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – After many years of construction, the final stretch of the Wekiva Parkway officially opened Friday, completing the western beltway around Orlando.
This final stretch connects the Parkway to State Road 417.
The project is designed to relieve traffic and ease travel between Seminole, Orange and Lake counties.
Friday’s opening comes more than a year after the Florida Department of Transportation opened the ramp connecting westbound I-4 to the Wekiva Parkway, creating the western alternate route around Orlando.
The Wekiva Parkway project was first authorized in 2004 to provide travel alternatives from I-4, State Road 46 and U.S. 441. The road was designed to include habitat corridors that separate wildlife from vehicle traffic.
The $1.6 billion expressway has been under construction since 2015.
State, federal and local officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning.
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