
History of Interstate 95 in Florida
I-95’s predecessor was US 1, which runs parallel to I-95 for nearly its entire length. US 17 was the predecessor only on the northernmost part between Jacksonville and the Georgia border, as US 1 veers inland there. Another major route that I-95 paralleled was State Route A1A, which runs mostly right along the shoreline from Key West to the Georgia border. This is the southernmost numbered road in the United States.
According to Topschoolsintheusa, US 1 was rapidly widened to 2×2 lanes for the construction of I-95 in the second half of the 1950s, in 1960 almost no part of I-95 was open, but US 1 was already almost complete widened to 2×2 lanes as a temporary solution. In 1954, the first Fuller Warren Bridge over the St. John in Jacksonville opened to traffic. On May 9, 1959, the viaduct that connected to it opened and distributed traffic from downtown over the bridges to Atlantic Boulevard and Philips Highway. Construction of I-95 first began outside the Miami area between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, the entire route being opened between 1965 and 1967. The part around Melbourne, Cocoa and Titusville was also constructed during that time.
Around 1967, a short stretch of freeway also opened along West Palm Beach. In the late 1960s, the northernmost section between Jacksonville and the Georgia border opened up. By 1970, there were still some missing links, particularly between Miami and Melbourne, as Florida’s Turnpike had already opened here and the competing toll-free I-95 was taking a little longer. In 1976 the highway was completed to Fort Pierce. The last section to be constructed was between Fort Pierce and Palm Beach. This was because Florida’s Turnpike already ran in this area and there was a concern that a toll-free I-95 parallel to the turnpike could disrupt the toll road.would make it unprofitable. This part was eventually constructed and was completed on December 19, 1987. In 2002 the bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville was replaced by a new one. The interchange with I-10 in Jacksonville was also subsequently renovated, which was completed in September 2010.
Miami
Construction on I-95 began in Miami in 1959. In December 1961, the first section was opened from downtown to the north of the city of Miami, covering approximately 6 kilometers. In 1964 a much longer section as far as Fort Lauderdale opened to traffic, including the immense Golden Glades Interchange. By 1969 the section through Miami was completed. The highway was originally constructed with 2×3 lanes, except for downtown, where there were 2×4 lanes from the start. Between 1988 and 1995, most of Miami and Dade County was widened to 2×5 lanes with HOV lanes.
Opening history
From | Unpleasant | Length | Date |
Exit 4 | exit 8 | 6 km | 00-12-1961 |
exit 8 | Exit 25 | 27 km | 00-00-1964 |
Exit 3 | Exit 4 | 2 km | 00-00-1964 |
Exit 1 | Exit 2 | 3 km | 00-00-1968 |
Exit 25 | Exit 26 | 2 km | 00-00-1968 |
Exit 2 | Exit 3 | 2 km | 00-11-1969 |
Exit 26 | Exit 42 | 26 km | 00-00-1977 |
I-95 express lanes
Interstate 95 is provided with express lanes throughout the Miami metropolitan area, these are toll lanes that are located in the middle of I-95. Stretching from Miami to just before Linton Boulevard at Delray Beach, these 2×2 lane express lanes are the longest set of 2×2 lane express lanes in the United States, measuring 78 kilometers in length.
The express lanes have been constructed in different phases. First, the express lanes were built closer to Miami, between I-395 at Downtown Miami and the Golden Glades Interchange with Florida’s Turnpike, which opened in 2008-2009 for a length of 15 kilometers.
The express lanes of I-95 were extended northward from the Golden Glades Interchange to Broward Boulevard past I-595 in Fort Lauderdale in the second phase between 2011 and 2015. The express lanes have since been 30 kilometers long. The express lanes consist of 2 lanes in each direction, whereby the existing HOV lane has been cancelled. The physical widening was 1 extra lane in each direction, creating 12 lanes. The extended express lanes opened for traffic up to Exit 16 on June 15, 2015.
Phase 3 of the express lanes runs from Broward Boulevard to Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. Phase 3 covers 37 kilometers and has been completed in several sub-phases, construction of phase 3a from Broward Boulevard to SW 10th Street started in August 2016 and was completed in October 2019, but not yet in use as toll lanes. Work started in 2018 on Phase 3b-1 between SW 10th Street and Glades Road, with completion on October 29, 2021. Work started in November 2019 on Phase 3b-2 from Glades Road to Linton Boulevard, which is due to be completed by the end of 2023. Phase 3C includes work to connect the express lanes of I-95 with the express lanes of I-595. When completed, the express lanes from Downtown Miami to Delray Beach will be 77 kilometers long. These will be the longest 2×2 lane express lanes in the United States.
The opening dates of the express lanes:
from | nasty | length | date |
I-395 | Golden Glades Interchange | 15 km | 05-12-2008 |
Golden Glades Interchange | Broward Boulevard | 15 km | 15-06-2015 |
Broward Boulevard | SW 10th Street | 21 km | 10-2019 |
SW 10th Street | Glades Road | 7 km | 29-10-2021 |
Glades Road | Linton Boulevard | 9 km | 2023 |
Widenings
I-95 at Fort Lauderdale.
After 2010, several stretches between West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach were widened to 2×3 lanes, to widen I-95 integrally to 2×3 lanes along the east coast of Florida.
In 2012 and 2013, I-95 between Cocoa and Titusville was widened to 2×3 lanes. Between Sebastian and Malabar, I-95 has been widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes for 20 kilometers. This project was completed in December 2014. As of 2015, I-95 between New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach has been widened to 2×3 lanes.
The section along Daytona Beach was last widened to 2×3 lanes for 22 kilometers, from SR-44 at New Smyrna Beach to US 92 at Daytona Beach. This project cost $205 million and was completed in February 2020. This was the last section of I-95 between Miami and Jacksonville that had 2×2 lanes left.
Between November 2012 and July 2016, a 47-mile stretch from Titusville to New Smyrna Beach at Daytona Beach was widened to 2×3 lanes. This was the part east of the Orlando area. This was a simple project and cost only $130 million, in some places the surfacing was already available in the form of a left hard shoulder and elsewhere there was a space reservation in the central reservation for 2×3 lanes. A further widening of I-95 from New Smyrna Beach to I-4 in Daytona Beach was completed shortly afterwards and was completed in 2016. This segment is 16 kilometers long.
Between May 2013 and November 2016, the portion from Vero Beach to Sebastian in Indian River County was widened to 2×3 lanes from Exit 147 to the Brevard County border for 13 miles.
exit numbering
Until 2002, I-95 had sequential exit numbering. This was replaced in that year by exit numbering according to distance, a more common system in the United States.
Population along I-95
I-95 serves one of the longest conurbations in the world, Miami ‘s, which stretches along I-95 for about 100 miles. In traffic-free conditions, it takes about 2 hours to cross the urban area from south to north. But virtually the entire east coast of Florida is densely populated, which is why traffic intensities are so high. Below is a list of counties through which I-95 runs from south to north.
County | Population (2018) |
Miami-Dade | 2,762,000 |
Broward | 1,951,000 |
Palm Beach | 1,486,000 |
Martin | 161,000 |
St. Lucie | 321,000 |
Indian River | 157,000 |
Brevard | 597,000 |
Volusia | 548,000 |
flagler | 112,000 |
St Johns | 254,000 |
duval | 950,000 |
Nassau | 86,000 |
total | 9,385,000 |
Toll
I-95 Express Lanes
In Miami, there are 48 miles of express lanes along I-95, from I-395 at Downtown Miami to Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. The express lanes have a layout of 2×2 lanes, out of a total of 2×6 to 2×7 lanes in this corridor. The toll is via Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and based on traffic volume.
The express lanes in Miami handle approximately 62,000 vehicles per day, in addition to the 204,000 vehicles on regular lanes. The use of the express lanes is markedly higher towards the south (morning rush direction) than towards the north (evening rush hour). The difference is nearly 10,000 vehicles per day.
Traffic intensities
I-95 to the north of Jacksonville.
The I-95/I-195/SR-112 interchange in Miami.
The intensities below are north of the relevant connection.
Location | 2010 | 2017 |
Exit 1 | 80,500 | 65,500 |
Exit 2 | 165,500 | 158,500 |
Exit 3 | 208,000 | 210,500 |
Exit 4 | 246,000 | 285,000 |
Exit 7 | 256,000 | 265,500 |
exit 8 | 261,000 | 298,000 |
exit 12 | 160,000 | 269,000 |
Exit 14 | 208,000 | 278,000 |
Exit 19 | 248,000 | 261,000 |
Exit 22 | 278,000 | 272,000 |
Exit 24 | 299,000 | 251,500 |
Exit 27 | 304,000 | 306,000 |
exit 32 | 222,000 | 275,000 |
exit 38 | 217,000 | 212,000 |
Exit 42 | 190,000 | 199,000 |
exit 48 | 172,000 | 229,000 |
Exit 52 | 173,000 | 203,000 |
exit 57 | 199,000 | 218,000 |
Exit 60 | 208,000 | 234,000 |
Exit 69 | 191,000 | 232,000 |
Exit 76 | 153,000 | 253,000 |
Exit 87 | 87,000 | 83,500 |
Exit 96 | 67,000 | 80,500 |
exit 110 | 53,000 | 65,500 |
Exit 124 | 69,000 | 78,500 |
Exit 138 | 35,000 | 44,000 |
Exit 147 | 35,000 | 39,000 |
Exit 184 | 78,000 | 87,500 |
Exit 212 | 42,500 | 38,500 |
Exit 231 | 24,500 | 29,000 |
Exit 256 | 51,000 | 51,500 |
Exit 260 | 70,500 | 62,500 |
Exit 273 | 67,000 | 62,000 |
Exit 298 | 45,000 | 60,500 |
Exit 318 | 63,500 | 86,000 |
Exit 329 | 87,800 | 116,000 |
Exit 337 | 95,000 | 124,500 |
Exit 344 | 139,000 | 144,000 |
Exit 347 | 121,000 | 136,500 |
Exit 350 | 94,500 | 163,000 |
Exit 354 | 108,000 | 127,000 |
Exit 358 | 69,500 | 88,000 |
Exit 362 | 82,500 | 107,500 |
Exit 373 | 44,000 | 53,500 |
Exit 380 | 56,500 | 68,000 |
Lane Configuration
From | Unpleasant | Lanes |
Exit 1 | Exit 2 | 2×3 |
Exit 2 | Exit 3 | 2×4 |
Exit 3 | Exit 16 | 2×6 |
Exit 16 | Exit 24 | 2×5 |
Exit 24 | Exit 27 | 2×6 |
Exit 27 | exit 38 | 2×5 |
exit 38 | Exit 50 | 2×4 |
Exit 50 | Exit 64 | 2×5 |
Exit 64 | Exit 69 | 2×6 |
Exit 69 | Exit 87 | 2×5 |
Exit 87 | Exit 129 | 2×3 |
Exit 129 | Exit 138 | 2×4 |
Exit 138 | Exit 351 | 2×3 |
Exit 351 | Exit 353 | 2×4 |
Exit 353 | Exit 380 | 2×3 |