When I-595 opened in 1989, the 13-mile road cost more than $1.2 billion. At the time, it was the most expensive road project ever undertaken in Florida. But the highway reached the capacity of 120,000 vehicles a day in the early 1990s and today the busiest stretch of I-595 carries more than 180,000 vehicles a day with 300,000 expected by 2030. The corridor is also essential to the economic vitality of the region as it serves as the backbone of southeast Florida’s transportation network serving regional mobility, connections to the state’s central and gulf coast areas, along with national and international markets.
Given the regional significance and the need for capacity improvements, FDOT prepared preliminary design and secured environmental approval for expansion.
The project includes nine interchanges, up to 17 lanes with three reversible express lanes, 4-lane continuous frontage road, and 60 bridge structures. The design was prepared under an accelerated schedule and is currently under construction under 180,000+ ADT traffic conditions
FDOT chose to implement the project under a public-private partnership, with a single private company to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the improvements through a concession agreement, as provided for under Section 334.30 of the Florida Statutes.
The project team organization, I-595 Express LLC, consists of the proposer, or concessionaire, formed by ACS-Dragados Macquarie Partnership; the construction joint venture, or design-build contractor, formed by Dragados USA, and GLF Construction Corporation; and AECOM, the engineer/designer.
AECOM’s scope of work includes finalizing FDOT’s preliminary engineering design and all final design services including roadway, structures, drainage, tidal bridge hydraulic modeling, maintenance of traffic, utilities, lighting, signals, and intelligent transportation systems infrastructure as well as landscaping, environmental permitting, surveys and geotechnical services.