I-4 Ultimate express lanes expected to open in 4 to 5 months

ORLANDO, Fla. - All along Interstate 4, you can see the express lane signs going up. 

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) says crews are working day and night to get the lanes open by early next year.

Driver Chris McDaniel says, "I’m kind of excited about it. All depends on how well the traffic flow goes, I guess."

Driver Melissa Valdez says, "I’ll use it. I’ll use it until I can’t."

The express lanes, which are also known as "managed lanes," will give drivers going east and west an additional option along the 21-mile stretch of I-4. 

Driver Tyler Radvansky says, "They’re convenient, I guess. Now, they are not stopping paying tolls."  

Valdez says, "I have mixed feelings about it. I feel there are a lot of things used for our tax dollars that sometimes we don’t know how it’s really going to work out until it does, so we’ll see."

Tolling equipment is also being installed.  

Prices for tolls will vary depending on the time of day. 

We’re still waiting to find out how much the cost will be.

Driver Stephen Chery says, "You’re gonna have to pay for that? No, I’ll go local. That’s ridiculous. We’ve already got to pay tolls on 408."

Chris McDaniel says, "Some people tend to use it, some people tend to save the money. I’m just excited to see how fast it can go."

On Wednesday, FDOT sent FOX 35 the following update:

The managed lane tolling on I-4 will be a dynamic—not a fixed—rate. The pricing is dynamic to help provide a more reliable travel time, so pricing gets adjusted based off traffic volumes in order to manage the congestion. Please note, pricing is based off the traffic volume only in the managed lanes.To help solve congestion it really takes a multi-faceted approach. It is a combination of efforts to offer various transportation choices. In this region, projects such as SunRail, the Wekiva Parkway, and the I-4 Ultimate improvements, are helping to build a full transportation network with multiple travel options.Tolled managed lanes will offer another transportation option for the community and are a valuable tool to help manage congestion in a fast-growing region like Central Florida. Managed lanes help to provide increased mobility and offer a more reliable travel choice. The addition of managed lanes is expected to improve travel speeds in all lanes, not only in the managed lanes. Every motor vehicle using the managed lanes is one less motorist in the general use lanes. While congestion will still occur at times, it is expected to be significantly improved from the previous capacity of the interstate and shorten the duration of congestion during peak travel times. Improvements have already been realized along the corridor with the reconstruction of the general use lanes and interchanges. Further improvements in travel speeds and congestion relief are expected once the managed lanes are fully operational. By continuing to provide more transportation options, current and future residents and visitors of Central Florida will have greater access to locations to live, work, and play, which helps to strengthen the local economy and reconnect communities.