The Enterprise will actively pursue several projects involving the concept of Xpress Lanes, an innovative solution to congestion problems along some of Florida’s busiest expressways. While it may not be possible to complete a project within the fi ve-year plan, the Enterprise will work hard to start planning and engineering on at least one, if not two such projects. At this point in time, the leading candidates are Xpress Lanes on I-4 in Orlando and Reversible Xpress Lanes on the HEFT in Miami-Dade County. Several examples of special use lanes, variable pricing and reversible roadways exist in other parts of the country and have been successful. The idea of Xpress Lanes is to create an independent facility in the median of select portions of the Interstate System and the TurnpikeMainline. Travel on the Xpress Lanes would be tolled requiring the use of transponders since there would be no tollbooths or toll plazas. Motorists would enter/ exit the Xpress Lanes through direct interchanges with cross streets and through interchanges with the general use lanes, called slip ramps. Advance signing would advise motorists on how to use the slip ramps to access interchanges with other cross streets.

Toll rates on the Xpress Lanes would vary by time of day and by roadway segment. The idea is to create a consistently high level of service in the Xpress Lanes by offering customers who are willing to pay a toll the benefi ts of less delay and more reliability. By using variable pricing in the Xpress Lanes, the Enterprise would influence travel demand and thereby traffic operations and level of service. Toll rates would be higher during peak travel periods and on congested roadway segments and lower during off-peak periods and on less congested segments. Toll rates would be set to maximize the use of Xpress Lanes while maintaining the desired high level of service. Toll rates by time of day and roadway segment will be available through the media and on roadside signage.

The Enterprise expects that over time the toll rates for Xpress Lanes will be higher, but not significantly higher, than the average toll rates on other tolled facilities in the State. As travel demand in the corridor builds, traffic volumes on the Xpress Lanes will increase. Xpress Lanes offer a real opportunity to manage congestion in a corridor.

The best example in the Turnpike System occurs on the HEFT south of the interchange with SR 836. During morning peak hours, the vast majority (nearly 70 percent) of the traffic moves in the northbound direction; and, during evening peak hours the majority of the traffic moves in the southbound direction. The preliminary analysis indicates the potential for a two lane, reversible roadway, located in the median of an eight-lane roadway. This would create the potential for a corridor with six lanes in the peak direction and four lanes in the off-peak direction, a dramatic improvement over the six-lane roadway that exists today.

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