Governor DeSantis directs the Florida Department of Transportation to focus on infrastructure rather than ideology. This clear direction sets Florida apart and places the Sunshine State as a national leader in Transportation.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) highlighted its major accomplishments carried out across Florida’s transportation system throughout 2024, including community-centric projects that meet the Department’s mission of ensuring the efficient movement of people and goods, support the state’s economic competitiveness, prioritize Florida’s environment and natural resources, and preserve the quality of life and connectedness of the state’s communities. These accomplishments build upon the continued success of Florida’s transportation system under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, ensuring Florida’s prominent position as a national leader in transportation.

“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ and the Florida Legislature’s steadfast focus on our state’s transportation system, FDOT has successfully achieved countless milestones and completed missions throughout 2024,” said Florida Department of Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “From the completion of congestion-relieving projects that will ensure families can spend less time on the road and more time with their loved ones, to the implementation of new and emerging technology that will draw in new businesses to create job opportunities for hardworking Floridians, FDOT has continued to place the wellbeing of Florida’s communities at the forefront of every decision it makes and we’re proud to continue delivering on these promises as we look towards the new year.”

Responding When Disaster Strikes

When Florida’s communities are faced with an emergency, FDOT teams are often some of the first boots on the ground in the impacted area, clearing the way for safe passage of emergency responders, utility crews, and essential supplies to reach those in need. This commitment to the mission of the Department – placing the needs of the state’s communities first – has been especially impactful to countless Floridians as FDOT responded to multiple severe weather events and major hurricanes throughout the year.

After a series of powerful tornadoes tore through the Panhandle and Tallahassee area in early May, FDOT crews from across North Florida immediately deployed to the field to respond to the extensive storm debris and widespread intersection signal outages left in their wake, even as many of these team members were personally impacted by these storms. Although these weather events are often sudden and unpredictable, FDOT’s response remained constant, ensuring that the post-storm recovery process could continue moving safely and efficiently for the impacted communities.

Following this tornado outbreak, the quick arrival of the 2024 Hurricane Season in August brought with its Florida’s first storm of the season, Hurricane Debby. With many major corridors in the impacted area becoming inaccessible due to heavy debris and flooding following the storm, FDOT crews from across the state quickly deployed to the field to carry out essential Cut and Toss operations, clearing nearly 6,600 miles of state roads in less than 24 hours, as well as wading through waist-deep water to pump thousands of gallons of water from I-10, which was reopened to traffic in only one hour.

Within weeks, Florida’s Big Bend became the landing place for another major storm, Hurricane Helene. As soon as the storm passed through the area, pre-staged FDOT crews began essential Cut and Toss operations, completely clearing I-10 from downed trees within six hours of the storm’s arrival and clearing a total of over 12,300 miles of roadway statewide by over 800 crews. With FDOT’s mission of serving Florida’s communities in mind, these Cut and Toss operations were not limited to just state-owned roadways – FDOT crews also prioritized clearing debris from school campuses and bus routes on local roads in the impacted area to ensure that students could return to the classroom with minimal disruptions following the storm.

Although Hurricane Helene made landfall in Taylor County, the storm left a trail of destruction in its wake after historic storm surges buried roadways in thick layers of sand and storm debris throughout many Gulf Coast communities. In Manatee County, after becoming impassable due to significant roadway deterioration and layers of sand that were nearly three feet high, FDOT crews made temporary repairs and reopened State Road (S.R.) 789 to traffic three days ahead of schedule and cleared over 50 thousand cubic yards of sand from Gulf Boulevard in Pinellas County and S.R. 789 in Sarasota and Manatee counties. In addition to these efforts to clear the extensive amounts of sand following the storm, Governor DeSantis directed FDOT to begin removing the mountains of household debris left across multiple barrier islands in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties alongside its partners to prepare for the impacts of Hurricane Milton as it quickly approached the Tampa Bay area. To date, over 27 thousand cubic yards of debris have been removed as part of this mission.

These expedited debris removal efforts were essential as Hurricane Milton made landfall in the greater Tampa Bay area just days following Hurricane Helene. To assist with the widespread evacuations occurring in one of Florida’s most populous metro areas, FDOT successfully implemented Emergency Shoulder Use on major corridors to keep residents moving away from the storm’s path. Following Hurricane Milton’s landfall, FDOT crews cleared over 12,000 miles of state roads in 24 hours and inspected over 2,400 bridges across impacted areas. With heavy vegetative and household debris resulting from both hurricanes Helene and Milton, FDOT reached a major milestone by removing a total of over four million cubic yards of debris from these storms as of December 2024.

While FDOT continues to respond to the needs of Florida’s communities each hurricane season, its mission of serving others at times when they need it most is one that extends beyond state lines, as seen with Governor DeSantis’ Operation Blue Ridge mission. Following Hurricane Helene, FDOT deployed crews and resources to Tennessee and North Carolina to assist with recovery efforts after these neighboring states experienced significant infrastructure damage, including temporary bridge materials, emergency cut and toss strike teams, damage assessment teams, bridge inspection teams, project and contract management teams, and more. With Florida’s extensive history responding to hurricanes and their resulting impacts to infrastructure, FDOT was proud to offer its expertise and assist these states in their greatest time of need. Additionally, these efforts have since been replicated by Florida’s neighboring states as Department of Transportation crews from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee deployed to assist with Hurricane Milton Recovery efforts here in Florida, demonstrating the power of unity and helping neighbors in times of need.

Historic Toll Relief

With Floridians still feeling the impacts of the rising costs of life from federally induced inflation, Governor DeSantis remained focused on bringing financial relief to Florida’s families and commuters in 2024 by announcing a second consecutive year of the highly successful Toll Relief Program. First launched in 2023, the first year of the Toll Relief Program proved successful after bringing approximately $470 million in savings to more than 1.2 million Floridians, averaging nearly $400 in savings per customer. Since the program’s relaunch in April 2024, over $247 million in Toll Relief credits have been issued so far, benefiting more than 1.2 million customers each month.

Delivering Congestion Relief Decades Ahead of Schedule

With the bold vision of Governor DeSantis and thanks to the valued support of the Florida Legislature to close essential funding gaps, FDOT has wasted no time in progressing much-needed congestion relief projects decades ahead of schedule through the Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative. Since the launch of this initiative, FDOT has been proactively working to deliver these projects on Florida’s critical corridors which will improve connectivity, increase safety, enhance the quality of the life for the state’s communities, and ensure the strength of Florida’s transportation system. This year, multiple projects under this initiative began construction activities, including:

• SW 10th Street
• I-75 at Pine Ridge Road Interchange
• S.R. 70 from Bourneside Boulevard to Waterbury Road
• I-75 Auxiliary Lanes from S.R. 44 to S.R. 326
• Golden Glades Interchange
• I-4 at S.R. 33 Interchange
• I-75 at Fruitville Road Interchange

As these projects progress in construction, FDOT will have five additional Moving Florida Forward projects underway in the first half of 2025, including multiple projects throughout the fast-growing Central Florida region. By 2025, the second year of the program, more than half of the projects included in this initiative will officially be underway.

Pushing Back on Federal Overreach & Advocating for Florida’s Needs

FDOT has continued to take a front-seat approach in Florida’s advocacy against federal overreach throughout 2024. Specifically, the Department has taken decisive action to address concerns with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s burdensome and imbalanced implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as well as its politically motivated, overreaching, and unlawful utilization of federal rulemakings. FDOT has put action behind our words, going as far as Secretary Perdue testifying in front of Congress to attest to these concerns.

By focusing on delivering projects and advancing the state’s transportation system rather than accepting the demands of ideological and political agendas, Florida has continued to place the needs of its residents first and ensure their freedoms by challenging these partisan programs and policies.

Ensuring a Strong Supply Chain & Robust Economy

Understanding the integral role of Florida’s transportation system in the overall success of the state’s economy and resulting wellbeing of its communities, the Department placed heavy emphasis on increasing funding opportunities to bolster infrastructure in rural counties and at critical supply chain links throughout 2024.

After expanding eligibility for additional rural communities to participate in funding opportunities during the 2024 Legislative Session, Governor DeSantis and FDOT awarded over $122 million to 30 counties through FDOT’s Small County Outreach Program (SCOP) and the Small County Resurfacing Assistance Program (SCRAP) for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. These programs will assist communities in repairing or rehabilitating bridges, addressing safety and capacity improvements, the paving, resurfacing, and reconstructing of county roads, and enhancements to evacuation routes. Of the $122 million awarded, one-third of these funds were allocated to fiscally-constrained communities who were impacted by hurricanes Idalia and Debby.

As FDOT continues to deliver larger and more complex infrastructure projects than ever before, it is essential that the state’s supply of critical building materials like aggregate remain unaffected by supply chain disruptions occurring at the national level. With multiple concrete and asphalt-heavy projects beginning to break ground as part of the Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative, Governor DeSantis took action and announced the award of $18 million to increase Florida’s aggregate storage capacity and enable more rail access to existing aggregate storage facilities. These awards are the first of up to $100 million to be invested over five years and will allow more aggregate material to be readily available for critical projects throughout the state, helping to keep construction moving and on time, especially with many Moving Florida Forward projects beginning construction or gearing up to start major construction soon.

Developing Florida’s Transportation Workforce

Before any construction projects can be brought to life, FDOT has continued strengthening the foundation on which they are built from: Florida’s workforce. As the state’s communities and accompanying transportation needs continue to grow exponentially each year, FDOT has made it a priority to cultivate a dependable and skilled workforce to keep up with the industry’s growing demand.

In February, FDOT hosted the state’s first in a series of transportation hiring events, “Road to Your Future,” in Jacksonville, connecting job seekers with career opportunities at all levels in the transportation, road, and bridge industries. With a strategic goal to streamline the hiring process, FDOT successfully made its first-ever on-site hire at February’s event, demonstrating the event’s immediate impact on the state’s workforce and economy. Following February’s event, FDOT hosted two additional Road to Your Future events in Tampa and Tallahassee, resulting in a total of 31 on-site hires and drawing in over 655 job seekers and 140 different industry partners to fulfill the state’s increasing workforce needs.

FDOT has also seen success with its efforts to create long-lasting and meaningful career paths within the transportation industry by expanding its nationally-renowned Professional Engineer Trainee Program to offer additional trainee programs for roles unique to the Department and industry, including Bridge Inspectors, Roadway Technicians, Transportation Project Managers, and Work Program Specialists, thanks to support from the Florida Legislature during the 2024 Legislative Session.

These ongoing workforce development initiatives – both within the agency and across the transportation industry – will play an important role in carrying out Governor DeSantis’ Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative.

Innovating for Efficiency

With multiple Moving Florida Forward construction projects occurring along I-4 in Central Florida, one of the state’s major travel and supply chain routes, FDOT developed innovative solutions to reduce congestion and accelerate construction timelines even more as these projects begin to break ground along this corridor, as seen with the Accelerated Start Project, which will add 7.5 miles of congestion relief lanes to increase traffic capacity before major construction even begins and reduce disruptive traffic shifts throughout construction of the projects.

In addition to this added travel capacity to reduce congestion, FDOT also announced the use of a first-in-the-nation contracting process called Modified Phased Design-Build to be utilized on these Moving Florida Forward projects, which will allow construction to begin earlier by enabling the Department to select multiple design and construction teams for one project, streamlining contracts and efficiency before and during construction.

Initiatives for a Safer Transportation System

With these major road construction projects underway, FDOT has continued to focus efforts on enhancing work zone safety to achieve its vision of eliminating serious injuries and fatalities across the state’s transportation system. In June, the Department took a unique approach to further implement new and emerging safety solutions through the first ever Safety Work Zone Innovations for Today and Tomorrow Challenge. This Shark-Tank-style event brought together private stakeholders, industry experts, and government agencies to revolutionize work zone safety by offering participants the platform to pitch their groundbreaking innovations and technologies to the Department for future use on Florida’s roadways. Following the Challenge, FDOT has been working closely with the winning innovator to further develop implementation plans for their proposed safety solution, which will be utilized on all new interstate resurfacing projects beginning in January 2025.

As the Department continues its focus on enhancing work zone safety, it has also remained steadfast in its efforts to eliminate rail-related fatalities and serious injuries across the state through the establishment of the Florida Rail Safety Coalition (FRSC) – the nation’s first coalition focused solely on rail-related concerns. Through this Coalition, Florida is taking a tailored approach to address rail safety concerns that are unique to the state’s communities, including at-grade crossing safety, trespassing prevention, standards and technology, and partnerships.

In an effort to enhance traffic safety, FDOT has partnered with local law enforcement agencies to pilot the Enhanced Law Enforcement Engagement Program, which allows law enforcement personnel to dedicate additional enforcement hours on select corridors in exchange for equipment such as speed feedback trailers, light towers, speed radars, and more. Throughout 2024, over 14,000 hours from local police agencies were donated to the program and over 19,000 citation tickets were issued, emphasizing the strong partnership between FDOT, Florida’s law enforcement agencies, and local communities to achieve their shared mission of creating safer roadways across the state.

Florida’s safety enhancements and initiatives have not only resulted in successes for the state’s communities at the local level, but also at a national level as they continue to receive recognition through competitive awards, such as the recent nomination of the Orange Blossom Trail Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project as a top 12 finalist for the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) 2024 America’s Transportation Award. This safety enhancement project has nearly eliminated all fatal crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists along this major corridor since the project was completed in 2023.

Taking Flight in Florida

FDOT has continued to set a national standard for the integration of new and emerging transportation technology, as seen with the evolution of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Advisory Committee in April. Comprised of key industry partners and public and private sector stakeholders, this committee is laying the groundwork for the AAM industry to take flight in Florida after hosting a series of tabletop exercises and roundtables at airports across the state to further develop necessary AAM infrastructure guidelines, as well as collaborate with local governments on the future of this technology in their communities.

As AAM technology prepares to take flight, Florida’s aerospace industry celebrated a record-breaking year, with an anticipated total of 94 launches expected to take off from the Space Coast by the end of 2024. With continued investments to strengthen spaceport infrastructure and the state’s pro-business environment, Florida has remained a world-class hub and global leader in the aerospace sector, consistently outpacing every other country across the globe for the total number of space launches.

Strengthening International Business Relations

With many new international businesses establishing operations with Florida each year, FDOT Secretary Perdue joined Governor DeSantis, FloridaCommerce, Select Florida, and other partners on multiple economic trade missions throughout 2024 to build upon these international relations and represent Florida on a global scale. While on missions in London and Italy, Secretary Perdue helped forge new import and export operations with key partners in the aviation and seaport industry, further strengthening Florida's economy and major international trade hubs.

Investing in Infrastructure

As Florida’s population experiences record-breaking growth each year, continued investments to expand capacity and travel options throughout the state are essential to ensure the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. Over the last year, FDOT both broke ground and celebrated the completion of these major road construction projects throughout the state:

• The Gateway Expressway project in Tampa was completed in April with the construction of new four-lane tolled expressways connecting major arterial roads to I-275. This project brought significant congestion relief, improved traffic flow, and additional travel routes for the thousands of Tampa Bay drivers who travel this corridor each day.
• The completion of the St. Lucie West Boulevard Widening Project in St. Lucie County further improved traffic operations and long-term infrastructure resiliency with the construction of a new bridge over I-95, the widening of St. Lucie Boulevard, and rebuilding of I-95 ramps in the area.
• As part of the Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative, FDOT officially broke ground on the Golden Glades Interchange project in March, which will enhance connectivity between I-95, S.R. 826/Palmetto Expressway, Florida’s Turnpike, S.R. 7/U.S. 441, and S.R. 9 in Miami-Dade County. This project will bring a multitude of benefits to the state, including the construction of 32 new bridges to enhance mobility and reduce congestion for travelers, as well as establishing a major freight connector to South Florida’s seaports and airports.
• In March, FDOT began improvements to the I-10 at U.S. 29 interchange in Escambia County. This project will increase capacity from four to six travel lanes and reconfigure the interchange to improve traffic safety and enhance mobility in this area.
• The completion of the S.R. 312 Roadway Extension project in St. Johns County offered motorists additional route options with the construction of a two-lane roadway connecting to nearby S.R. 207 and South Holmes Boulevard. As the area continues to experience rapid growth, this project will provide essential congestion relief for travelers.
• The S.R. 821 widening project along the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade County brought increased travel capacity for current and future traffic volumes, widening this five-mile section to ten lanes and adding efficient flyover ramps at the Dolphin Expressway interchange. Completed ten months ahead of schedule and having received two Florida Transportation Builders’ Association Best in Construction Awards, this project was a testament to FDOT’s commitment to excellence.

Increasing Connectivity for Communities

FDOT celebrated the addition of a new transportation option to Florida’s already robust, multi-modal transportation system with the completion of the DeLand SunRail Station in Volusia County. With the station’s grand opening in August, Central Florida’s premier commuter rail line now spans 61 miles and connects to four Central Florida counties through 17 stations, offering increased mobility options for thousands of travelers daily. This marks a major milestone in the expansion of this commuter rail line, as this completes the SunRail system’s original vision.

In Lee County, FDOT crews completed a major pedestrian connectivity project through the new addition of an eight-foot sidewalk on the Caloosahatchee River Bridge. FDOT’s decision to implement a full closure of the bridge for eight weeks allowed this project to be completed one year ahead of schedule, further demonstrating the Department’s commitment to carrying out innovative construction methods with the needs of Florida’s communities in mind. With pedestrian access unavailable on the previous bridge structure, the completion of this project has brought success in safely accommodating all road users across the Caloosahatchee River and creates new connectivity options between Downtown Fort Myers and North Fort Myers for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Delivering Projects While Practicing Good Environmental Stewardship

FDOT remains committed to meeting the state’s growing transportation needs while also protecting our natural resources and wildlife. The completion of the Wekiva Parkway project was a testament to this commitment, with FDOT taking extra steps to enhance mobility and connectivity for travelers while simultaneously conserving more than 3,400 acres of land, protecting the Wekiva River Basin, and installing more than 1.5 miles of wildlife crossings along this 100-mile-plus beltway in Central Florida. These environmental protections have been applauded as a national model for delivering major improvements through environmentally-sensitive areas, as demonstrated with the project receiving SASHTO’s 2024 America’s Transportation Award in the Quality of Life/Community Development category.

In June, FDOT completed the first of three planned wildlife crossings beneath the I-4 corridor, which will facilitate connectivity and wildlife movement between existing conservation lands within the Hilochee Wildlife Management Area. FDOT continues to place emphasis on the creation of these designated wildlife crossings, as they play an important role in the safety of both Florida’s unique species and motorists by mitigating the risks of roadway collisions between the two parties.

Preparing for the Road Ahead

As the Department celebrates these major achievements and looks ahead to 2025, its focus remains centered on meeting the transportation needs of Florida’s communities through the continued implementation of new and emerging transportation technology and research, development of a strong workforce, and supply chain-centric investments. With this vision and support of its partners, FDOT will further maintain the state’s position as a national and international transportation powerhouse.