Central Florida’s $2.3 billion I-4 Ultimate project sets record for scale and scope – and business opportunities Florida Construction News staff writer C onstruction has started on the massive $2.3 billion I-4 Ulti- mate project in Orlando, with the prospect for record-breaking eco- nomic spin-offs, including more than $250 million in opportunities for disad- vantaged and small business organiza- tions. “As Florida’s largest transportation project ever, and the largest public-pri- vate partnership in the U.S. market to date, the I-4 Ultimate is a demonstra- tion of how P3s can solve critical infra- structure needs and how Skanska can be part of the solution,” says Johan Karlström, CEO and president of Skan- ska, one of the private equity partners belonging to the I-4 Mobility Partners team, which won the 40-year contract last year after a competition with three other consortiums. The project encompasses rebuild- ing 21 miles of the key north-south in- terstate highway through the area of some of the U.S.’s most prominent tourist attractions, along with other central Florida businesses, industries and residences. It includes four tolled lanes using the new model where tolls are dynamic, and increase or decrease depending on traffic volume. (Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will retain the toll revenue, while the consortium will be paid an access maintenance fee, called an “availability payment”, through the project’s multi- decade lifecycle.) In part because the highway travels through the highly populated central Orlando area, it has complex infra- structure requirements, with limited construction room – and there will be special challenges in minimizing local disruption during the lengthy construc- tion cycle, which is less than 6.5 years. There are, for example, some 140 bridges, including 56 new ones (in- cluding a new major pedestrian cross- ing), 68 replacements, and 13 modifications, and 15 major inter- changes will be reconstructed. FDOT says the P3 model will shave about 20 years off the schedule of building the road through conventional procurement methods. It also says the approved proposal’s cost is approxi- mately $860 million less than the high- est competitive proposal received by the FDOT. John Laing Investments Ltd. shares equity status with Skanska. Florida Construction News — SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 – 11