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Mock I-4 Closure Set This Weekend

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By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 29, 2008

TAMPA - State transportation officials on Saturday will try to find out how long it takes to close part of Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando in the case of a hurricane.

No lanes will be closed for the exercise, which starts at 7 a.m. and could stretch six to nine hours, but drivers might be delayed, said Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kris Carson.

"Motorists will see more troopers on the sides of roads and more DOT personnel," she said. "We won't reverse traffic."

Officials are trying to determine how long it might take in the event of a hurricane to shut down 63 miles of westbound I-4 from 50th Street in Tampa to World Drive in Orlando.

During hurricanes, I-4's westbound lanes could be reversed to allow motorists on the state's west coast to evacuate the area. That would mean shutting down the highway's westbound entrance ramps to avoid collisions with eastbound traffic.

On Saturday, troopers will be dispatched to exits and traffic workers will load orange cones, barricades and signs onto trucks, drive to I-4's ramps and unload the equipment.

The cones and barricades will not be stretched across the ramps but piled up along the sides. The whole exercise will be timed.

The last "contraflow," or reversing the direction of one-way lanes on an emergency basis, occurred in 2002. Transportation officials scheduled this one in part to test a new device: orange strapping that can be stretched across the ramps.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at rshopes@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7633.

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