According to Transporthint, State Route 429 or State Road 429 (SR-429), also known as the Daniel Webster Western Beltway and Wekiva Parkway, is a state route, turnpike, and interstate highway in the U.S. state of Florida. The highway forms a western bypass of the Orlando metropolitan area. The highway is 88 kilometers long and begins and ends at I-4.
Travel directions
State Road 429 begins at a half- star interchange on Interstate 4 in the southern Orlando suburbs and then heads north in 2×2 lanes, west of sprawling Disney World. The highway runs along the edge of the urban region, although further north it leads through more built-up areas. At Ocoee, it intersects with Florida’s Turnpike, reaching the northwestern suburbs. Around Apopka is an interchange with State Road 414 and State Road 451. In addition, there is a connection to US 441. From Sorrento, the toll road curves east and leads to Interstate 4at Sanford. Here State Road 429 becomes State Road 417, which forms Orlando’s east bypass.
History
According to Travelationary, the west side of Orlando suburbanized throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that it grew into the Winter Garden and Apopka area, creating a greater need for a westbound Orlando bypass.
Construction history
The highway has been constructed in literate phases. Segment A is 17 kilometers from Florida’s Turnpike to US 441 in Apopka and opened to traffic in July 2000. Segment C is 22 miles south between I-4 and Florida’s Turnpike and opened in two phases on December 15, 2005 for seven miles between New Independence Parkway and Florida’s Turnpike and on December 23, 2005 for 10 miles further south to US 192. December 9, 2006, the southernmost section opened for 5 miles to I-4.
In 2011 and 2012, the connection of the SR-429 to the SR-414 at Apopka was adjusted, and the SR-429 was moved over a new route. On December 15, 2011, the new western interchange with SR-414 opened and on May 14, 2012, the eastern interchange with SR-414 opened, eliminating the old connection (Exit 30) with SR-414. On January 19, 2013, the new route from SR-429 to US 441 opened west of Plymouth.
Segment B covers the northern portion from US 441 in Apopka to I-4 in Sanford. This section is also known as the Wekiva Parkway. The cost was $1.8 billion and the first phases were constructed between 2013 and 2018. The north-south section from Apopka to Mount Plymouth was constructed by the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX).
On January 20, 2016, the first four kilometers between CR-435/Mount Plymouth Road and SR-46 opened. On June 8, 2015, construction began on 3 kilometers of the highway between US 441 and Ponkan Road. This section was opened to Kelly Park Road on July 27, 2017. Later in 2015, construction began between Ponkan Road and State Road 453 on the south side of Sorrento. On August 1, 2016, construction began on the remainder of Mount Plymouth, which opened on March 31, 2018.
Naming
The toll road is called the Daniel Webster Western Beltway between I-4 and US 441 at Apopka. This section is named after Daniel Webster (1949), a Florida politician, first serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives between 1980 and 1998, then the Florida State Senate between 1998 and 2008, and then in the U.S. House of Representatives. Representatives from 2011.
The northern portion of the bypass is called the Wekiva Parkway, named after the Wekiva River, a 16-mile (26 km) river in the Orlando area. The highway also goes around Wekiwa Springs State Park.
Opening history
From
Unpleasant
Length
Date
Exit 23 / Florida’s Turnpike
Exit 32 / US 441
17 km
00-07-2000
Exit 15 / New Independence Pkwy
Exit 23 / Florida’s Turnpike
11 km
15-12-2005
Exit 6/US 192
Exit 15 / New Independence Pkwy
16 km
23-12-2005
Exit 1 / I-4
Exit 6/US 192
8 km
09-12-2006
Exit 30 / SR-414
Exit 34 / US 441
6 km
19-01-2013
CR-435 (temporary)
Exit 44 / SR-46
4 km
20-01-2016
Exit 34 US 441
Exit 38 Kelly Park Road
6 km
27-07-2017
Exit 38 Kelly Park Road
CR-435 (temporary)
6 km
31-03-2018
Exit 44 / SR-46
Exit 50 Longwood Markham Road
10 km
16-05-2022
Exit 50 Longwood Markham Road
Exit 52 Orange Boulevard (1st rc )
3 km
01-08-2022
Exit 50 Longwood Markham Road
Exit 52 Orange Boulevard (2nd rc )
3 km
15-08-2022
Future
The east-west section from Mount Plymouth to I-4 in Sanford was constructed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). In October 2018, a $253 contract was awarded to construct the interchange with I-4 and connecting road sections. The first 10-kilometer section from State Route 46 to Lake Markham Road will open on May 16, 2022. On August 1, 2022, the first lane opened further to near Orange Boulevard, two weeks later on August 15, 2022, the lane opened in the other direction. The entire project up to the interchange with I-4 is to be opened in early 2023.
Toll
State Route 429 is a toll road, operated by the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX). The toll road uses electronic toll collection, it was the first toll road in the Orlando area where toll collection was fully electronic.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 53,000 vehicles travel between I-4 and Florida’s Turnpike, peaking at 66,000 vehicles between Winter Garden and Apopka. This drops again to 19,000 vehicles between Apopka and Sorrento.
