Letter to the Hon. Mike Dew, Secretary of Transportation Florida - Murphy, Soto, and Demings Request Update from Florida Dept. of Transportation on "I-4 Ultimate Project"

Letter

Dear Secretary Dew:

We write today to express our concerns over a recent Moody's Investment Service report that concluded construction on Interstate 4 (I-4) is over 245 days behind schedule and $100 million over budget. We respectfully request a status update on this situation and why the 21-mile, $2.3 billion dollar, "I-4 Ultimate" project is over eight months behind schedule and $100 million over budget.

As you know, I-4 Ultimate is an important project for Central Florida. The project is funded through a public-private partnership including federal funds, and because of that partnership, Moody's periodically provides loan investment ratings. Moody's recently released an investors report on the I-4 Mobility Partners loan and revised the project's outlook from stable to negative due to three main factors. First, the report estimates a 245-day delay to the original substantial completion date of December 2020 to September 2021. Second, Moody's indicated there is a related claim, associated with the delay, filed with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for an additional $100 million in compensation. Third, there is a high level of accumulated noncompliance points in the month of May associated with minor flooding which led to lane closures. We understand the FDOT maintains active communication with I-4 Mobility Partners and is engaging in additional project oversight. Accordingly, we would like to know more about the cost overruns, construction delays, and what FDOT plans to do to mitigate these recent developments.

Therefore, we respectfully request that FDOT provide us with a status update on why construction on the I-4 Ultimate project is behind schedule and $100 million over budget. We thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Rep. Darren Soto
Rep. Val Demings
Rep. Stephanie Murphy

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