State Road 408 (SR 408), officially named the Spessard L. Holland East–West Expressway, is a

controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

running east–west through

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is owned and operated by the

Central Florida Expressway Authority The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is a highway authority responsible for construction, maintenance and operation of toll roads in five counties in the Greater Orlando area (specifically Lake County, FL, Lake, Orange County, FL, Ora ...

(CFX), except for the westernmost mile (1.5 km), which is owned by

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) is a unit of the Florida Department of Transportation that operates toll roads in Florida. The current executive director is Nicola Liquori. History The Florida State Turnpike Authority was authorized by t ...

as a connection to

Florida's Turnpike Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned highway, unsigned State Road 91 (SR 91), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximate ...

. The road runs from the Turnpike in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

, east through downtown

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, where it intersects with I-4, ending near SR 50 south of the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. The road is named for

Spessard L. Holland Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician. A Southern Democrat, he served as the 28th governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and as a U.S. senator for Florida from 1946 to 1971. He was th ...

. A short connection to SR 417, originally part of SR 408, was a spur of SR 408, and is sometimes labeled State Road 4080. The spur has been removed and the interchange with SR 417 has been revamped. The

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

where SR 408 once ended at SR 50 west of SR 435 (Kirkman Road) was once called State Road 4081. This spur is now a drainage basin.

Route description

SR 408 begins at

, heading east towards West Colonial Drive ( SR 50) near Ocoee. After the interchange with Good Homes Road (exit 3), the tollway passes through the Hiawassee barrier toll, the first of four mainline toll barriers. From there, SR 408 serpentines eastward through the neighborhoods of

Orlo Vista Orlo Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Orange County, Florida, United States. While the spelling "Orlo Vista" is used by the U.S. Postal Service, the community is shown as Orlovista on federal maps. The populatio ...

and Pine Hills making major junctions with State Road 435 (Kirkman Road), passing through the Pine Hills barrier toll east of Pine Hills Road, State Road 423 (John Young Parkway), and U.S. Route 441 (

Orange Blossom Trail U.S. Route 441 (US 441) in Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs from Miami in South Florida northwest to the Georgia state line, with the overall route continuing to Tennessee in the Rocky Top area. Like all AASHTO ...

), with

Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, United States located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Kia Center, the Dr. Phil ...

(formerly the Citrus Bowl) being accessible from the Orange Blossom Trail exit. Motorists heading east enter the Orlando city limits at mile marker 8, where they are greeted with a view of the high-rise skyline of Central Orlando. The East–West Expressway passes through a major stack interchange with

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis ...

in Downtown and proceeds eastward to the Conway Toll Plaza, followed by major junctions with State Road 436 (Semoran Boulevard), and State Road 417 (Central Florida Greeneway). The route continues through the Dean Road Toll Plaza and the exits to State Road 434 (Alafaya Trail) and State Road 50 (East Colonial Drive). The tollway's eastern terminus is Challenger Parkway, however Challenger Parkway continues until Alafaya Trail. SR 408 runs almost entirely parallel to State Road 50 throughout its entire route.

Tolls

There are four mainline toll plazas on the tollway. Each of them have at least two express lanes dedicated to

E-Pass The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is a highway authority responsible for construction, maintenance and operation of toll roads in five counties in the Greater Orlando area (specifically Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, and ...

/ SunPass for

electronic toll collection Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or Road pricing, toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing Tol ...

which do not require motorists to stop at a booth and lanes dedicated to cash collection. Excepting the Mills off ramp, which has only two lanes for exact change, the ramp toll plazas have both a lane dedicated to ETC and a lane dedicated to exact change only with no change provided. The current toll rates took effect in July 2012.

History

Initial segment

The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority had been formed in 1963 for the purpose of building the Bee Line Expressway. In early 1966, while that road was still under construction, Governor Haydon Burns asked the OOCEA to look into an east–west

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

across downtown

to relieve traffic on State Road 50 (Colonial Drive). An engineering study recommended a western terminus at SR 50 west of State Road 435 (Kirkman Road) and an eastern terminus at SR 50 east of Goldenrod Road ( State Road 15A). One alternate ran close to SR 50, while the other – which was chosen by June 1969 – ran further south. Bonds were sold in May 1971. In December of that year, the OOCEA voted to name it the Spessard Lindsay Holland East–West Expressway, in honor of

Spessard Holland Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician. A Southern Democrat, he served as the 28th List of Governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and as a US senator, U.S. senato ...

, who had just retired from representing Florida in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

was held just east of

Semoran Boulevard State Road 436 (SR 436), known as Semoran Boulevard for most of its length and Altamonte Drive in Altamonte Springs, FL, Altamonte Springs, is a north-south road (east-west after U.S. Route 17 in Florida#Concurrency with US 92, US 17/92) in the ...

on February 5, 1972. The final design took SR 408 across

just south of Anderson Street. The

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

– a double trumpet – connected to I-4 south of Gore Street, and resulted in the closure of four of the six ramps at Gore Street, which had intersected I-4 with a six-ramp

partial cloverleaf A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial road, arterial Interchange (road), interchange designs ...

. (The loops were in the southwest and southeast quadrants.) To the east, SR 408 crossed Lake Underhill. East of Goldenrod Road, the decision was made in 1970 to temporarily include three

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ar ...

s at Chickasaw Trail, Valencia College Lane and Millinocket Lane. East-West Expressway logo

The west half, from SR 50 to Mills Avenue, opened October 26, 1973. The rest was completed by December 11. The two barrier toll plazas – Holland West and Holland East – each charged 20 cents, while the ramp tolls – present at

, Mills Avenue, Bumby Avenue, Conway Road and

, charged 10 cents. The

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...

took over operation and maintenance, giving revenues to the OOCEA. The final cost of the 13.3-mile (21.4 km) road was about $89 million. Most tolls were doubled on January 1, 1987.

Eastern extension

Florida SR 4080 at Valencia College Lane

Prior to the start of construction on the eastern extension, the Northeastern Beltway ( State Road 417) was built north from the existing east end of the East–West Expressway at Colonial Drive. As part of this project, in 1987 and 1988, two ramps were added to the Goldenrod Road interchange to make it full, and the three

s were removed – Chickasaw Trail became an overpass, Valencia College Lane became an

, and Millinockett Lane was simply cut. Ramp tolls were added at Valencia College Lane and SR 50, adding to the cost of traveling the original East–West once tolling on the new road began January 1, 1989. By 1984, the alignment of the eastern extension of SR 408 had been chosen. The area was planned to be developed, and the OOCEA hoped to build the road before development made that impossible. Construction began in 1987, and the west piece, from existing SR 408 (redesignated SR 4080) to Rouse Road, opened May 12, 1989. The rest of the six-mile (10 km) road opened in June, with a total cost of $105 million. This project included a full

with the planned Southeastern Beltway (opened April 14, 1990), the Dean Road barrier toll, as well as a connection at the east end to the

Central Florida Research Park The Central Florida Research Park (CFRP) is a research park abutting the main campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida, United States. CFRP is the largest research park in Florida, the fourth largest in the United Stat ...

. A wide

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

was left where the road curves north to end at SR 50 for further extension, but the land to the east has since been developed.

Western extension

A connection to

and the planned Western Beltway was studied in 1985. (The Beltway, which would have run where Clarke Road now is, was soon shifted west.) Construction on the 4.5-mile (7 km) extension began in mid-1989 and was completed on October 8, 1990, costing $102 million total. The former west end at SR 50 west of Kirkman Road was temporarily designated SR 4081 during construction, and became a

retention pond A retention basin, sometimes called a retention pond, wet detention basin, or storm water management pond (SWMP), is an artificial pond with vegetation around the perimeter and a permanent pool of water in its design. It is used to manage st ...

. A fourth barrier toll – the Hiawassee Road plaza – was added to the road. The extension was designed to have a full

with the Turnpike, but originally only the north-pointing ramps were built. The full

with the Turnpike was completed in August 2006. A temporary

ticket system A ticket system, also known as a closed toll collection system, is a system used on some toll roads in which a user pays a toll rate based on the distance traveled from their originating entrance to their destination exit. The correct toll is d ...

booth was installed until the Turnpike switched to a coin system in 1991.

Later changes

Tolls were again raised July 1, 1990, to 75 cents at barrier tolls and 50 cents on ramps. After public backlash, an experiment began October 11, 1992, in which some of the changes were reverted. The Hiawassee Road and Dean Road barriers were dropped back to 50 cents, and ramp tolls at Hiawassee Road, Valencia College Lane, Dean Road and Rouse Road were cut to 25 cents. The OOCEA board voted on June 17, 1993, to make the changes permanent. Due to confusion resulting from the four named toll roads in the Orlando area (East–West Expressway, Bee Line Expressway, Eastern Beltway and Seminole County Expressway), the OOCEA decided in 1992 to use the numbers that had already been designated by the

(FDOT). The old

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

symbol was replaced by the number 408 in the new toll road symbol, recently approved by FDOT. Signs were changed in 1993. At some point in the late 1990s, the John Young Parkway (SR 423)

was completed; it had formerly only had ramps to and from the east. Florida State Road 408

All the mainline toll plazas were reconstructed with express

lanes in the latter half of the 2000s. On November 10, 2006, the new Pine Hills Main Toll Plaza opened west as a replacement of the now demolished Holland West Toll Plaza. The new toll plaza features three express

lanes in both directions with open road tolling. At the western end of the expressway a new set of ramps to

opened in August 2006. Previously it was only possible for westbound traffic to go northbound on the Turnpike. A new ramp allows traffic to also go southbound on the Turnpike. Likewise, previously only southbound Turnpike traffic could exit onto eastbound TOLL 408. A new ramp on the northbound Turnpike allows traffic to enter eastbound TOLL 408. New west facing ramps opened in March 2007 at Good Homes Road, joining pre-existing east facing ramps. Starting in September 2003, a $600 million widening project occurred in the central and western part of the road. As part of the project, two through lanes were added along the entire length of the expressway from Hiawassee Road in the west to Oxalis Road (just east of the SR 436 interchange) in the east. The section from downtown Orlando to Hiawassee Road was completed in Spring 2007. The entire project was completed in June 2010. In the summer of 2010, the Expressway Authority began the widening of SR 408 from Oxalis Avenue to Goldenrod Road as well as the widening of the SR 408 Chickasaw Trail Bridge. This project was completed in March 2012.Sr 408 Widening Initiative
In addition, the interchange with SR 417 was expanded. This resulted in the elimination of SR 4080 and the interchange with Valencia College Lane. Traffic to Valencia College was redirected to Chickasaw Trail and Dean Road. On October 13, 2016, Central Florida Expressway board members approved to rename a portion of SR 408 after professional golfer

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

. State Representative Mike Miller and State Senator David H. Simmons sponsored legislation for renaming the road, which was signed into law by Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...

on June 14, 2017. The section of SR 408 between Kirkman Road and Clarke Road was renamed the Arnold Palmer Expressway on July 1, 2017. A

stack interchange A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...

with

near downtown

replaced the original double-trumpet interchange in recent years. The first construction phase began in April 2006 and was completed in November 2008. Due to a lack of funds, the rest of the interchange project was ultimately postponed until the I-4 Ultimate project. Following the first phase, the ramp that originally handled all traffic merging from I-4 only handled traffic from I-4 eastbound, which left abandoned lanes. A

ramp stub An unused highway is a highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent ...

was constructed in advance of the completion the conversion to

on SR 408 westbound. The

was responsible for this project. On May 19, 2020, Governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...

formally opened the reconstructed SR 408 ramps with I-4. This was completed as part of the acceleration of I-4 Ultimate improvement project as part of the lack of traffic in Florida due to stay-at-home orders that were implemented within the state of Florida during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Future

Eastern Extensions

The OOCEA 2025 Master Plan (2000) suggested extending SR 408 further east toward the west end of SR 520. In the OOCEA 2030 Master Plan, this proposed extension was further extended to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on the Atlantic coast of eastern Central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county se ...

. So far, the SR 408 Eastern Extension project has been put on hold

The alternative solution, dubbed the Colonial Parkway has been shelved by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) so as of now the extension is still sitting on hold. Talks of extending SR 408 south past Florida State Road 528, SR 528, Nova Road, down to US 192, named the Northeast Connector Expressway Extension (NECEE), a CF&M study done the

. This further extension would take SR 408 from the Challenger Parkway Interchange with SR 50/East Colonial Drive over to the proposed terminus at SR 50 near the SR 50/ SR 520 then down southward to US 192. But the Southward extensions won't become a reality until after 2040 since these are part of a development plan dubbed the North Ranch Master Plan in Osceola County

Western Improvements

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is currently planning to widen

from 8 to 12 lanes from SR 408 in

to SR 50/West Colonial Drive near

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

and Clermont which includes interchange improvements at Florida's Turnpike/ SR 429(Daniel Webster Western Beltway) and SR 408 by constructing an 8 lane (4 lanes in both directions) Collector/Distributor System, connecting SR 408 with SR 429 without having to take Florida's Turnpike mainline, which helps drastically decrease the congestion and weaving between the two expressways on the Turnpike.

Exit list

Challenger Parkway