State Road 451

Toll Florida State Road 451

State Road 451 spurs 2.5 miles north from SR 414 (John Land Apopka Expressway) near South Apopka, to U.S. 441 (Orange Blossom Trail) northwest of Downtown Apopka. There are no mainline exits on the four lane toll road, but a $2.2 million connector opened in August 2013 between the north end of SR 451 and Vick Road.1

Signs for SR 451 began appearing in November 2012,1 foreshadowing the eventual shift of SR 429 from the Western Beltway westward. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) straight line diagrams attribute 1.868 miles to SR 451, from the exchange with SR 414 north to U.S. 441.

Costing $237 million, the Western Beltway was completed north to Apopka in July 2000. Plans at the time called for SR 414 to be a toll free road built by FDOT. The alignment took SR 414 under SR 429 with no access. Funds for that road never materialized, and the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) took over the project in 2004.2

Design changes made by the OOCEA included elevating SR 414 (Apopka Expressway) and constructing a systems interchange with SR 429. A mile long section of the Western Beltway was demolished and SR 429 was realigned westward to the new exchange.2

Accommodating construction of the $1.6 billion Wekiva Parkway, the new Apopka Expressway curved 3.7 miles northwest to Orange Blossom Trail (OBT) at Plymouth. Costing $54 million, the SR 429 extension opened to traffic on January 18, 2013, at which time the beltway spur north to OBT was officially renumbered as SR 451.3,4

References:

  1. "A quicker connection to S.R. 429 for Apopka." Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) - October 11, 2012.
  2. "S.R. 429's days are numbered near Apopka -- section to become S.R. 451." Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) - November 24, 2012.
  3. "Happy drivers, worried neighbors - 4-mile extension of S.R. 429 to ease commute, but some fear noise, risks." Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) - January 13, 2013.
  4. "New section of State Road 429 opens with steady flow of traffic." Orlando Sentinel, The (FL), January 20, 2013.

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Page Updated Thursday April 05, 2018.