Florida State Road 429
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| State Road 429 |
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| Length: | 33 mi (52 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 2000 | ||||||||
| South end: |  I-4 near Disney World |
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| Major junctions: |
 US 192 near Kissimmee Turnpike in Winter Garden |
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| North end: |  US 441 in Apopka |
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State Road 429 (SR 429), also known as the Daniel Webster Western Beltway or Western Expressway, is a limited-access toll road built and maintained by the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, The Roadway is privately owned. It currently extends 33 miles (52 km) from Interstate 4 (State Road 400 (Florida)) near Walt Disney World north to U.S. Highway 441 (State Road 500/Orange Blossom Trail) in Apopka. Control cities are Apopka and Tampa although the control cities for traffic on U.S. Highway 441 at the northern entrance are now Orlando and Tampa.
SR 429 was originally planned as a western half of State Road 417.
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[edit] Section A
Section A is the original 10.6-mile section from Florida's Turnpike in Ocoee, to US 441 in Apopka. It has a $1.00 toll plaza in the middle, the first toll-plaza in the Orlando area with open road tolling for users of the E-Pass and related electronic toll collection systems. The road itself was finished in July 2000, temporarily ending at SR 50, and the interchange with Florida's Turnpike, featuring the highest ramp in the Orlando area, was completed in February 2001.
SR 429 was originally planned to continue north, but because the land needed for the SR 429 right of way was not secured ahead of time, new housing was developed north of the current SR 429/U.S. 441 intersection. This has forced a change in plans for the extension of SR 429.
When the Apopka Bypass is built, SR 429 will be rerouted onto the west part of the bypass, and current SR 429 north of the bypass will be SR 451 (originally planned as SR 429A). This is because Section B will connect to the west end of the Apopka Bypass rather than the current end of SR 429. SR 451 will basically become a large entrance/exit ramp for SR 429.
[edit] Section C
Section C is the 22-mile section from Florida's Turnpike to I-4 (SR 400) south of Walt Disney World. The 4-mile section from Florida's Turnpike to County Road 535 was completed in December 2002. The part from CR 535 south to New Independence Parkway opened December 16, 2005, with the extension to US 192 opening December 23.[1] The Turnpike-maintained section, south of Seidel Road, was on a very tight construction schedule. An extended cold snap required the contractor to push to reach the opening date, although the interchanges at Western Way and Seidel Road were not complete. The Western Way interchange was not scheduled to open until Spring of 2006 to coincide with the opening of the new Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest. The open road tolling gantry, while located north of US 192, was let for construction with the southern five miles and was never intended to be open to traffic in conjunction with the 2005 opening between US 192 and Seidel. The Schofield Road interchange was identified as a future interchange, meaning that on December 23 no interchanges were open between US 192 and New Independence Parkway. Other openings were April 4, 2006[2][3] for Western Way, April 12, 2006[4] for Seidel Road, and December 9, 2006 for the remainder from US 192 south to I-4.[5]
[edit] Section B
Section B, now also known as the Wekiva Parkway, which would connect SR 429's future north end at US 441 to I-4 in Sanford, has been under debate for over a decade because its planned corridor is complicated by the ecologically-fragile Wekiva River basin and shifty support from Lake County. In 2004, an agreement was reached for its completion. Its exact route and schedule for construction are still unclear, but it is supposed to be built largely as a long causeway with a limited number of exits to better control development in the region. One of the plans would link SR 429 with SR 417, creating a continuous beltway north of Orlando; the others would involve a short drive on I-4 or its collector/distributor roads to reach SR 417.
The current plans for the north end of SR 429 is for it to be redirected west with the John Land Apopka Expressway to meet US 441 further north, from which point the Wekiva Parkway will begin. The remaining stub will be redesignated SR 451, and will eventually be extended further north from US 441 as a surface road.
[edit] Noteworthy
State Road 429 traverses some of the highest elevations in Orange County and is often within a few miles of the Lake Wales Ridge. The road peaks at Mile Marker 13 where on clear days it is possible to see the skyline of downtown Orlando to the northeast and Space Mountain, Cinderella Castle and the Contemporary Resort of Walt Disney World to the southeast.
[edit] Exit list
| Number | Destinations | Notes |
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| Interstate 4 east |
southbound exit and northbound entrance; opened December 9, 2006 | |
| 1 | Interstate 4 west |
southbound exit and northbound entrance; opened December 9, 2006 |
| 1A | Sinclair Road | $0.25 toll for cars on northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 6 | U.S. Highway 192 - Kissimmee |
$0.50 toll for cars on northbound exit and southbound entrance; opened December 9, 2006 |
| barrier toll ($1.00 cars) | ||
| 8 | Disney World; Hartzog Road (Western Way) | |
| 11 | Seidel Road | northbound exit and southbound entrance; $0.50 toll for cars |
| Schofield Road | future interchange | |
| 15 | New Independence Parkway | $0.50 toll for cars on northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Independence barrier toll ($1.00 cars) | ||
| 19 | County Road 535 - Winter Garden Vineland Road | $0.25 toll for cars on southbound exit and northbound entrance |
| 22 | Florida's Turnpike - Miami; Ocala |
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| 23 |  State Road 50 - West Colonial Drive |
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| 24 |  State Road 438 - Plant Street; Franklin Street |
$0.25 toll for cars on northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| 26 | West Road to Clarcona-Ocoee Road | $0.50 toll for cars on northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Forest Lake barrier toll ($1.00 cars) | ||
| 30 | County Road 437A - Ocoee-Apopka Road | northbound exit and southbound entrance |
 State Road 414 (Apopka Bypass); Maitland |
construction to begin soon | |
| 33 | U.S. Highway 441 - Orange Blossom Trail; Apopka |
northbound exit and southbound entrance |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Scott Powers, Western Beltway pushes 5 1/2 miles farther south, Orlando Sentinel December 16, 2005
- ^ Beth Kassab and Scott Powers, New road access to Disney to open, Orlando Sentinel March 27, 2006
- ^ Western Way Opens, Central Florida News 13 April 4, 2006
- ^ Phone call to Florida's Turnpike Enterprise information line
- ^ Rich Mckay, Drivers, rejoice: Last leg of Western Beltway open, Orlando Sentinel, December 9, 2006
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