State Road 417 (SR 417), also known as the Central Florida GreeneWay, Seminole County Expressway (depending on the location), Eastern Beltway and Orlando East Bypass, 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 ...

forming the eastern

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

around the city of

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 maintained 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) and

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 ...

. The CFX section was posthumously named after former

Orlando Orange County 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, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, and B ...

chairman Jim Greene. SR 417 was originally planned to be a full beltway around Orlando. Eventually, the beltway was divided, with the west side being designated SR 429, and the east side retaining the SR 417 designation. Until 2024, the two expressways were non-continuous. SR 429 is now extended via Wekiva Parkway to meet SR 417 in the Sanford/Heathrow area.

Route description

Although SR 417 is signed north–south throughout its entire route, it runs east–west between Celebration and CR 15. After the latter road, it runs north–south through the rest of its route. The Southern Connector as well as the beltway begins at an interchange with I-4 in

Celebration Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...

. This section, run by

is , extending to the

International Drive International Drive, commonly known as I-Drive, is a major thoroughfare in Orlando, Florida, United States, and is the city's main tourist strip. I-Drive is located several miles southwest of proper Downtown Orlando in the southernmost li ...

interchange. Between the International Drive interchange and the

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 ...

–

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

county line, the tollway is known as the Central Florida GreeneWay, and is operated by CFX. The Seminole Expressway section of the tollway begins at the county line. This section, also run by

is , extends to an interchange with I-4 in Sanford at the end of the beltway.

Tolls

There are six mainline toll plazas on the tollway and have at least one express lane 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 ...

(ETC), which do not require motorists to stop at a booth, as well as lanes dedicated to cash collection. The Celebration toll plaza has one ETC lane, and all of the others have at least two ETC lanes. The ramp toll plazas have a lane dedicated to ETC and exact change only, with no change provided. While both

and SunPass are accepted at all interchanges along the toll road, portions maintained by CFX are signed as E-Pass and portions maintained by FTE are signed as SunPass.

History

Phase I: The Eastern Beltway

The first phase of SR 417, then termed the Eastern Beltway, extended from what was the east end of the East–West Expressway northward to SR 426 (Aloma Avenue) in Seminole County. It allowed commuters to bypass the crowded

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 ...

, as well as give expressway access to 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 OOCEA began construction of phase I in July 1987 and the road was opened to the public on December 16, 1988, at a cost of $105 million, with $35 million being spent on acquiring 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 ...

for the route.

Phase II: The Southeastern Beltway

Phase II, the "Southeastern Beltway", was considered one of the most important parts of the Eastern Beltway because motorists could use this portion to travel from 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 ...

to the

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is the primary international airport located southeast of downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2024, it had 57,211,628 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and ninth busiest airport in the United St ...

without ever getting off the expressway system. This portion of the GreeneWay had passed through some of the most barren portions of Orange County. It skirts the

Econlockhatchee River The Econlockhatchee River (Econ River for short) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 21, 2011 north-flowing blackwater tributary of the St. Johns River. The E ...

marshes that cover some of eastern Orange and northern

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. The OOCEA began construction of the Southeastern Beltway, from Colonial Drive to the Beachline Expressway in January 1989, and opened ahead of schedule in July 1990. The route cost $72 million, with an estimated $13 million being spent on acquiring the

Phase III: The Southern Connector

The "Southern Connector" was to become a route extending from SR 528 all the way to SR 535. The OOCEA began construction of the road in November 1991 and completed construction July 1, 1993, at a cost of $273 million. It was during the construction of this section that the Orange County portion of the beltway project was renamed the Central Florida GreeneWay. From 2015 through 2016, a limited interchange was completed with SR 417 and

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 remaining ramps to complete the full interchange were opened May 21, 2021.

Phase IV: The Seminole Expressway

The Seminole Expressway, the northern leg of SR 417, is located in Seminole County and is owned and operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. The section south of Aloma Avenue to the county line (less than one mile) was acquired from the Seminole County Expressway Authority in April 1990 as part of Florida's Turnpike Expansion Program authorized by Senate Bill 1316. The initial stretch, from just south of Aloma to

US 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its len ...

/ 92 opened in phases in 1994. The final six miles (10 km) connect to

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 ...

near Sanford/ Lake Mary, and opened to traffic on September 15, 2002, approximately seven months ahead of the final schedule. This leg features only one mainline toll plaza (just south of CR 427), but it is also the priciest toll plaza on SR 417 at $2.50 per vehicle. This section also features the only "free movement" on SR 417. No toll is collected for motorists traveling between I-4 and Rinehart Road (whose interchange with SR 417 is used for travelers on SR 46 and CR 46A to get to and from SR 417).

Phase V: Southern Connector Extension

Due to the multiple entities involved, which included OOCEA,

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

, Osceola County, private landowners, the

Reedy Creek Improvement District The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), is the governing jurisdiction and Special district (United States), special taxing district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort. It ...

, and the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, building the southernmost between I-4 and the GreeneWay became a complex task. Eventually, they agreed on the Southern Connector Extension, as well as the

Osceola Parkway Osceola Parkway, signed as County Road 522 (CR 522) since around 2003 (and originally planned as State Road 424), is a , partially tolled arterial road extending east–west across the northern boundary of Osceola County, Florida, roughl ...

. Florida's Turnpike began construction of the extension from the GreeneWay to I-4 in 1994 and completed construction in mid 1996. The project cost almost $153 million, with $74 million coming from contributions from the private parties involved in building this route, making it possible to get from

to the

without ever driving on Interstate 4.

Later changes

In 2008, the Turnpike Enterprise began a $49 million project to reconstruct the Lake Jesup toll plaza, allowing for the inclusion of SunPass/E-PASS express lanes. The project was completed in April 2011. On December 14, 2011, the northern terminus of SR 417 was extended from Interstate 4 to International Parkway. The $11.4 million project began construction on November 29, 2010. The Turnpike Enterprise and OOCEA (now CFX) agreed to build a partial interchange between SR 417 and

in the late 2000s, after negotiations dating back to a 1991 field study. The interchange was built in two phases. The first phase, built by CFX, added ramps from southbound SR 417 to southbound Florida's Turnpike and from northbound Florida's Turnpike to northbound SR 417. Construction on the first phase began in September 2013 and opened on January 26, 2015. The second phase to complete the interchange was built by the FTE, with construction beginning in late 2014 and completed in 2017, several years ahead of its original completion date. In January 2015, the speed limit along the entire highway was raised to from the previous speed limit. The increase followed a study that found 85% of drivers on the highway already drove between . In 2019, construction started on a new interchange between SR 429 (Wekiva Parkway), SR 417, and

, and was completed in 2024 to finish the beltway around Orlando.

Future

The OOCEA 2030 Master Plan suggested widening the entire expressway to six lanes from International Drive to the Seminole County line. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise has also completed a project development & environment study (PD&E) to evaluate the widening of the Seminole Expressway, the portion of SR 417 north of University Boulevard. Construction between University Boulevard and SR 434 was scheduled to begin in 2020, but hasn't started yet as of 2023.

Exit list

References

External links

SR 417 (Central FL GreeneWay) - Central Florida Expressway Authority
{{Fla Tpk

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Freeways in the United States 1988 establishments in Florida

Beltways in the United States