thumb|An aerial shot of the junction where I-595 and I-75 cross. Going west is Alligator Alley (I-75). Going North is Sawgrass Expressway. Going South is I-75.
Interstate 595 (I-595), also known as the Port Everglades Expressway and unsigned Florida State Road 862 (SR 862), is a auxiliary Interstate Highway that connects I-75 and Alligator Alley in the west with Florida's Turnpike, I-95, Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, U.S. Highway 1 (U.S. 1), and SR A1A before terminating at Port Everglades in the east. The Interstate route was conceived in 1969 and planned as an Interstate starting in 1974. Construction began in 1984, with the expressway opening in stages in the late 1980s, and it was completed in 1991. The reversible tolled express lanes opened in 2014.
Route description
thumb|250px|left|Exit 12B on I-595
thumb|250px|left|I-595 eastbound at the SR 84/US 441 interchange
thumb|250px|I-595 seen from the air to the right of [[Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport]]
Interstate 595 begins in Sunrise at the eastern part of the Sawgrass Interchange, with I-75 on the southern and western ends (I-75 "north" leads into Alligator Alley on the west side) and the Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869) on the northern end. From the western terminus, the highway heads east to Davie, acting as a commuter route between the western fringes of the populated part of Broward County and Fort Lauderdale. At University Drive (SR 817), I-595 goes below a partial stack interchange. From there, I-595 continues east along the northern edge of the airport. It then reaches the eastern end of the airport, where it has its final interchange with U.S. 1 (which runs concurrently with SR A1A at the interchange), providing access to both the airport and Port Everglades.
In the early 1980s, I-595 was planned to be partially a toll expressway to cover its cost of construction. By the time construction started on July 26, 1984, the tolls for the expressway vanished, and it was built with only minor changes in its route. The first section, between I-75 and Hiatus Road opened in May 1988, with the section between Florida's Turnpike and US 1 opening on February 24, 1989, and the last section, connecting the disjointed sections opening on October 21, 1989. The expressway was designated as I-595 on June 11, 1990, and the Rainbow Interchange with I-95 was completed on March 22, 1991, the last unfinished interchange of the original plan.
The portion of the expressway between I-95 and US 1 follows the right-of-way of the Port Everglades railroad tracks that had previously run from the CSX Transportation railroad to Port Everglades.
In 2002, I-595, along with most of Florida's Interstates, switched over from a sequential exit numbering system to a mileage-based exit numbering system. Numbers were changed again at about the time the express lanes were opened in early 2014.<!--note photos like http://construction.i-595.com/images/overhead-signs/AB/Sign-Structure-26.jpg that show numbers covered-->
On April 9, 2022, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was killed after being struck by a dump truck near Davie when he was attempting to cross the westbound lanes of I-595 at 6:40 am near Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport and died at the scene.
Express lanes
thumb|250px|right|Yellow sign signaling the end of the highway
The $1.8-billion (equivalent to $ in ) tolled SunPass express lanes project in the middle of the expressway to relieve the traffic congestion opened for test use on March 26, 2014, and started tolling on April 9, 2014. The express lanes will significantly improve the capacity and operations of the I-595 corridor by providing three additional at-grade lanes in the median of the corridor. The lanes will reverse direction in peak travel times (eastbound in the morning/westbound in the evening). To maximize the operational efficiency, the lanes will have tolls at varying rates throughout the day to optimize traffic flow, and access to and from the lanes will only be allowed west of 136th Avenue, east of US 441/SR 7, and through a direct connection to the median of Florida's Turnpike, removing long-distance commuter traffic from the general purpose lanes. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will retain control of the toll revenue and toll rates.
Exit list
Mainline
Exits 1–7 feed into the SR 84 frontage roads.
Express lanes
Frontage roads
See also
- Dwayne Haskins - a football player that died on this route on April 9, 2022
References
External links
- I-595 Express Improvement Project
- Florida @ SouthEastRoads - Interstate 595