Report: Company managing I-4 Ultimate Project wants extension, additional $100M

I-4 Mobility Partners asks for 8-month extension

ORLANDO, Fla. – A recent report offered bad news for Central Florida drivers sick of the construction on I-4.

The company handling the I-4 Ultimate Project is asking for more money and more time, meaning construction could last even longer than the current 2021 timeline.

Construction started in 2015 for the 21-mile stretch of road and this is the first sign the project could have problems.

The contractors, I-4 Mobility Partners filed a claim with the state asking for a 245-day extension and an additional $100 million, according to the Florida Department of Transportation and Moody's Investor Services.

Attorney Neal McCulloh, who is not associated with the project, said he wasn't surprised by the request.

"It's been so far delayed. This should have been done decades ago, and the cost just keeps going up," McCulloh said. "I'm just appalled by the whole situation."

The request for more money and an extension triggered Moody's, an  investment advisor, to change their outlook on the project's loans from stable to "negative" in its June report, which brought the problem to the public's attention.

A spokesperson for FDOT confirmed the request for more money and an extension.  

FDOT spokesman Steve Olson said in an email that "no time extension or financial considerations have been granted to the contractor from FDOT."

According to Moody's report, the main reason for the delay and the overage is "drilled shaft failures."

FDOT has 120 days to respond to the claim, according to the report.

As of right now, construction is scheduled to be complete some time in 2021.


About the Author:

Emmy Award-winning reporter Louis Bolden joined the News 6 team in September of 2001 and hasn't gotten a moment's rest since. Louis has been a General Assignment Reporter for News 6 and Weekend Morning Anchor. He joined the Special Projects/Investigative Unit in 2014.

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