I-75
exits renumbered to reflect mile markers
Statewide transition planned here in April
By DON RUANE, druane@news-press.com
New exit numbers are coming to Interstate 75 in April.
The change is part of a statewide transition from a
consecutive numbering system to one based on mile markers.
The Federal Highway Administration is paying for the
$4.6 million project that involves every interstate highway in Florida.
Work starts this month to convert Interstate 10, followed by Interstates
75 and 4 in April and Interstate 95 in May.
Long familiar exits such as Exit 22 for Colonial Boulevard
in Lee County or Exit 15 for County Road 951 in Collier County are
going to change to the nearest mile marker number. The Colonial
exit will become Exit 136. The County Road 951 interchange will
become Exit 101. The 35-mile distance between exits can be calculated
using the new exit numbers.
“You’ve got a much better feel for the distance you
need to travel,” said Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman
Debbie Tower said Tuesday.
That should help tourists, said Diane Jones, spokeswoman
for AAA Auto Club South. The distance could be five or 50 miles
under the consecutive numbering system, she said.
“This is going to be a real plus for us,” said Capt.
Dave Wheaton, spokesman for Lee County Emergency Medical Services.
“We’ll know pretty much where we’re headed as soon as we’re out
of the chute.”
Drivers and businesses have two years to adjust. Old
exit numbers will remain posted until 2004.
FDOT has been working for 18 months to notify businesses
about the pending change, yet the word hasn’t reached them all.
“I was totally unaware of it,” said Jeff Staner, general
manager of Miromar Outlets at Exit 19, soon-to-be Exit 123, at Corkscrew
Road.
The mall’s advertising tells people to use Exit 19.
The transition period is enough to make changes, said Staner, who
compared the switch to the transition period for telephone area
code changes.
There are 105 exits on I-75 between Miami and the Georgia
state line. No starting point for the work has been determined.
Signs about one mile in advance of an exit and at the exit ramp
will carry old and new exit numbers. Signs for food services, lodging
and specific destinations such as airports will show only the new
exit numbers.
Florida's Turnpike was converted to the milepost system
in 1989. Money wasn’t available until now to extend the system to
the other interstates, Tower said.
Micki Misamore, 23, a driver for Furniture Store in
North Fort Myers, thinks people will adjust easily to the changes.
“People are going to know it as it used to be, just
like MLK when it turned from Anderson Avenue.” |
