Community Spotlight: Local Restaurant Owner Dishes about I-4 Improvements
Restaurant owner Rosario Spagnolo is one of many drivers who have taken notice of the improvements on Interstate 4 (I-4) – especially near Maitland Boulevard (State Road 414).
For 18 years, Spagnolo has been traveling between his home in Maitland and his Italian eatery TerraMia Ristorante in Altamonte Springs. Through six of those years, Spagnolo has seen every phase of the I-4 Ultimate project from before construction to heavy activity to being nearly complete.
“At first, the changes were confusing, but I knew it was for the best,” Spagnolo said. “There’s less of a mess now.”
From the time I-4 Ultimate construction began in 2015 to now, the Maitland Boulevard and I-4 interchange has transformed entirely to reduce congestion and enhance safety. Crews shifted traffic to elevated roads, opened new access ramps, and eliminated traffic signals to improve traffic flow.
All of those improvements are necessary as Maitland Boulevard is one of the busiest interchanges on the I-4 Ultimate project with approximately 76,000 vehicles traveling Maitland Boulevard over I-4 and another 172,500 traveling I-4 under Maitland Boulevard daily.
The enhancements are not only a boon to Spagnolo’s travel time, but for his business, too. Because of the better traffic flow between Maitland Boulevard and State Road 434 near his business at 1150 Douglas Avenue, he said his restaurant has experienced more exposure. “You could already see us from I-4, but the added traffic certainly gives us more attention.”
Spagnolo is looking forward to further improvements as the project winds down, but he knows that traffic backups will not be fully eliminated either. “Like every city’s that’s growing, there will be congestion, but improvements are helping to bypass that.”
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