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I-4 Is Crucial To Economy Of Central Florida

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By TED JACKOVICS, RUSSELL RAY and DAVE SIMANOFF, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

TAMPA - It's difficult to overstate the importance of Interstate 4 to Central Florida's economy. It's a lifeline for commerce between Orlando and the Tampa Bay area, especially for the trucking industry and commuters traveling for work.

The interstate also serves as a key pipeline for Central Florida's tourism industry, allowing visitors to move between attractions and airports in the Bay area and Orlando's theme parks and international airports.

"I-4 is critical for the Central Florida area because it provides the quickest and most direct route between the Tampa Bay area and Orlando," said Gregg Laskoski, managing director of public relations for AAA Auto Club South, based in Tampa.

"It's a vital, vital link," he said. "Most people have never given a thought to how they would get to Orlando using any other road."

Perhaps no single industry relies as heavily on I-4 as the trucking industry. Everything from furniture and food to industrial chemicals and gasoline is trucked each day by tractor-trailers on the interstate.

No government agency keeps track of exactly how many trucks a day use the highway between Tampa and Orlando, but it's estimated that thousands of tractor-trailers and other trucks travel the road each day. Jeff Frost, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, said based on weigh station records, about 360 trucks per hour use I-4 near Plant City alone.

"Everything you've got around you came on a truck," Frost said.

Gas Stations May Be Short On Fuel

As if underscoring the trucking industry's reliance on I-4, 20 tractor-trailers were involved in the series of pileups Wednesday morning, according to police reports.

Matt Ubben, vice president of public affairs for the Florida Trucking Association, said: "Any delay has an impact on business. It's obviously a major roadway for commerce in Florida."

A big challenge Wednesday was getting fuel to the scores of gas stations along the I-4 corridor, Ubben said. That challenge may grow if authorities continue to keep portions of I-4 closed to clear wreckage and investigate, he said.

"It's going to be slow going," he said. "I would expect that there would be continued delays" in fuel reaching gas stations along I-4.

Other shipping businesses that rely heavily on I-4 include package delivery giants FedEx Corp. and UPS, each of which has major distribution operations in the Tampa area.

Both companies said they have contingency plans for dealing with road emergencies and closures.

With the theme parks of Orlando, the attractions of Tampa and beaches of Pinellas within driving distance, hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors use I-4 each day to travel between those destinations.

State and county tourism officials said they do not track specifically how many tourists might use the corridor on a daily or weekly basis. But an estimated 900 to 1,000 people who fly into Orlando area airports to visit that area's attractions drive each day for overnight stays at Pinellas County beaches, surveys by Research Data Services Inc., a consultant, show.

It was not known what effect the I-4 closing had Wednesday on Pinellas visitors because Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater does not track visitors on a daily basis, said David Downing, director of public relations for the Pinellas convention and visitors bureau.

Some Tourists Miss Attraction

Some tourist groups were affected, though.

Several Busch Gardens Africa buses that take people from Orlando to the Tampa attraction made it to the park Wednesday morning. But an estimated 200 guests on other buses may have been tied up in traffic jams because of the accident, Busch Gardens spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said.

The road closing did not appear to have any measurable effect on attendance at Busch Gardens on Wednesday, Hoeppner said.

I-4 also serves as a key road for people traveling into or out of Orlando's two major airports, Orlando International and Orlando Sanford International. Each serves airlines offering international flights to Europe and elsewhere. It was unclear Wednesday how many travelers using I-4 to make a flight out of Orlando may have missed their planes because of the traffic tie-ups.

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