Interstate 4: I-4 can be referred to as the lowest-numbered Highway in the continental United States of America. Barely reaching 132 miles, this Interstate Highway is actually an Interstate within one state because it has its beginning and end in the very State of Florida. The very junction of I-275 in the awesome city of Tampa is actually the very beginning of the I-4 and it travels slantwise north–east and then reaches the I-95, USA’s best known roadway in the thrilling Daytona Beach. Locales use to call it Florida State Road 400. We actually speak of a very short 3-mile stretch of I-4 at East in the very proximity of the junction between I-4 with U.S. Route 1 in Daytona.

This area is also known as the I-4 Corridor and is promoted that way by the local Chambers of Commerce as well as by various other business promotional associations. The very reason is that the I-4 freeway connects all three cities of Orlando, Tampa as well as Daytona Beach and also because of the ease of commerce due to the vicinity with the Interstate 4. The cities of Winter Park, DeLand, Sanford, Lakeland as well as Plant City are served by the famous I-4 Corridor. Not to mention the three major metropolitan areas. Under such circumstances there has appeared a rivalry between the Tampa Bay Storm and Orlando Predators Arena Football League, which can also be referred to as the War on I-4.

Very similar to a genuine diagonal route, this road rather goes further east-west than north-south. Nevertheless it would still be even-numbered even if it didn't, because of the fact that it only intersects odd-numbered Interstates at right angles. I-4 actually goes quite in a north-south direction throughout Orange County and Seminole County.

The significant Veterans Memorial Bridge is the new name of the historic bridge over the translucent St. Johns River, which was in its origin single four-lane section. In 2003 it has been replaced with two 3-lane sections.

I-4 has undergone several widening operations and many of the post-1970 era transitions along I-4 occurred before the here above date. Nevertheless we must also bear in mind the fact that that the I-4 expansion is to be regarded as an exception in this respect. This means that I-4 permits widening operations (it can be widened up to ten lanes) without having to alter the interchanges considerably. Among these transitions we may count the Interstate 75 stack (built in the 1980s) as well as several interchanges in Kissimmee (constructed in the late 1980s/early 1990s).

Tolled express lanes have been planned in the Orlando region as a traffic congestion alleviation technique for rush hours commuters. They had to be named Xpress 400, and they had to be numbered after the state road name for I-4, SR 400. However, because of the John Mica, a U. S. Representative, they have been banned by a newly passed motorist in the SAFETEA-LU Federal transportation costs in 2005.

In 48 neighbouring states this is actually the lowest-numbered Interstate Highway. Nevertheless the Interstates in Hawaii are not included; the lowest-numbered north-south Interstate would be, so to say, I-5.
We must also mention the ferocious competition between the Orlando Predators and Tampa Bay Storm Arena Football League teams which also bears the name “the War on I-4”, similar to the fierce opposition between the University of Central Florida in Orlando and the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Being in progress, the reconstruction works of the I-4 determined the closing of the terminus to 40th Street (State Road 569) in the magnetizing city of Tampa in late 2005. Some voices utter that it will not be reopened because a proposed connector highway with the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway is to be built.
Eastbound I-4 came back to its original position between 50th St on Tuesday and Malfunction Junction on August 8, 2006 at 5:30am. The original position includes a right-lane ramp terminus /entry at the very 22nd St/21st transition (the past left-lane alignment was causing dangerous conditions to commuters since its very beginning in 2005. On Friday, August 11, 2006 a fourth lane opened on eastbound I-4 between the downtown juncture and 50th St (led in by a recently opened third lane on the eastbound I-4 ramp from northward I-275. And last, but not least on Friday, August 18, the genuine westbound position opened, just west of 50th Street. The recently opened lanes will contribute to a better traffic throughout the transitions. The 50th St flyover however, is not to be completed until late 2007.

On the other hand the Eastern I-4 terminus ramp to Columbus Drive/50th Street is also nestled to the left-hand side of the road (in the past the side terminus was on the right-hand side). In the spring of 2006 this terminus shift’s effect could be observed and thus we can speak of a brand new and lasting interstate alignment.

Moreover the construction of the new eastbound on-ramp from State Road 408In Orlando replaced the Eastern terminus to Robinson Street (State Road 526) which had been closed at 11PM on April 25, 2006.
In the morning of April 27, 2006 the new transition from I-4 west to John Young Parkway (County Road 423) was reopened.