Interstate 4 West - Polk City to Lakeland

$70.46 million in construction underway from the end of 2020 to September 12, 2025 converted the parclo B2 interchange (Exit 48) with CR 557 into a dumbbell interchange (FDOT, 2024).

06/07/24

A set of rest areas line Interstate 4 between Exits 48 and 44.

06/07/24

CR 557 navigates along an increasingly suburban route from Interstate 4 south 6.11 miles to U.S. 17/92 in Lake Alfred. Northward Old Grade Road extends 5.23 miles from SR 557 at I-4 to Deen Still Road amid orange groves and wetlands.

06/07/24

A ribbon cutting ceremony held on June 5, 2024 marked the substantial completion of road work at Exit 48. Construction included a wildlife crossing for Hilochee Wildlife Management Area to the east of CR 557 (FDOT, 2024). 0.54 miles of CR 557 at Interstate 4 is state maintained as SR 557.

01/13/26

CR 557 leads south through northern reaches of the Lake Alfred city limits from ahead of CR 557A to Gum Lake and to U.S. 17/92 (Lake Shore Drive) byr the city center.

05/27/20

CR 557 south meets CR 17 (Old Polk City Road) in 1.25 miles and CR 557A in 2.3 miles. These rural roads link CR 557 with Haines City to the east and Polk City to the west.

05/27/20

U.S. 17/92 split one mile south of CR 557 (Pomelo Street) in Lake Alfred on respective courses to Winter Haven and Auburndale.

05/27/20

The Polk County Rest Area is the second and last facility along Interstate 4 westbound.

05/04/24

05/15/16

The ensuing stretch to Polk City is the last fully rural section of Interstate 4 west. FDOT recorded 97,000 vehicles per day (vpd) here in 2018, 80,000 vpd in 2021, and 100,500 vpd in 2024.

06/07/24

The Polk City center lies northwest of Interstate 4 from the succeeding exit with SR 559.

06/07/24

SR 559 connects with Interstate 4 at a diamond interchange (Exit 44) by Little Lake Agnes. Changes made in 2020 realigned SR 559 off Polk City Road and Main Street south to Downtown Auburndale onto Berkley Road (CR 655) to the west.

06/07/24

Improvements at Exit 44 completed in 2017 relocated the eastbound roadway for I-4 and added a new four lane span for SR 559 over the freeway.

06/07/24

Unsigned CR 559 extends 6.96 miles south from SR 559 and nearby C. Fred Jones Boulevard (SR 559A) to Lake Ariana and U.S. 92 beyond Downtown Auburndale. SR 559A links SR 559 with the continuation of the route south along Berkley Road (former CR 655) through western Auburndale.

06/07/24

SR 559 follows Broadway Boulevard northwest from CR 557A to SR 33 (Commonwealth Avenue) in Polk City. Polk City is home to the Fantasy of Flight museum, which houses the world's largest privately owned aircraft collection.

06/07/24

Traffic lights replaced the stop signs at the westbound ramps with SR 559 in 2025.

06/07/24

Passing south of Lake Agnes in Auburndale, Interstate 4 proceeds west 2.5 miles to the trumpet interchange (Exit 41) with SR 570 (Polk Parkway).

06/07/24

Westbound reassurance marker posted ahead of the Polk County Road 655 (Berkley Road) underpass.

05/04/24

Carbon copied in 2022, the design of this distance sign predates the completion of Polk Parkway as it lists SR 33 as the succeeding exit. Downtown Lakeland is 13 miles to the southwest via SR 33 at Exit 33.

06/07/24

Operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), SR 570 (Polk Parkway) runs south through western reaches of Auburndale to SR 540, and west from there into south Lakeland. Costing $490 million, Polk Parkway was constructed from January 25, 1996 to December 12, 1999 (FTE, 2005).

06/07/24

Mount Olive Road spans I-4 a half mile from Exit 41 for SR 570. FTE converted Polk Parkway to all electronic tolling (AET) at 8 PM on September 23, 2022.

06/07/24

Polk Parkway encircles Lakeland south from I-4 for 24.38 miles between Exit 41 and 27. U.S. 98 travels northwest from Bartow to meet SR 570 in 14.2 miles at Easton Park.

06/07/24

Interstate 4 parallels SR 33 to the south and University Boulevard to the north by Florida Polytechnic University.

09/01/18

Meeting Interstate 4 at Exit 38, SR 33 runs southwest from Polk City into north Lakeland by a number of distribution centers.

06/07/24

A diamond interchange joins SR 33 and Interstate 4 at Exit 38. SR 33 loops south from Exit 38 to SR 659 (Combee Road) and back to I-4 at Exit 33. SR 659 stems south to U.S. 92 (Memorial Boulevard) between Combee Settlement and Crystal Lake.

05/30/19

SR 33 measures 42.69 miles in length between U.S. 92 (Memorial Boulevard) in Downtown Lakeland and SR 50 at Mascotte. Road work underway from early 2025 to early 2029 expands SR 33 into a four lane arterial and redesigns Exit 38 into a dumbbell interchange (FDOT, 2025).

01/13/26

Interstate 4 bends southwest through north Lakeland from Polk City to Winston. Six lane expansion of the freeway through the city was completed in 2006.

05/25/22

Installed by Spring 2022, this distance sign added Plant City as a third destination.

06/07/24

Toppled by Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024, the last in the series of Interstate junction signs posted along I-4 westbound. I-4 ends at Interstate 275, 36 miles west of this assembly.

05/25/22

Polk County Road 582 meets Interstate 4 at Exit 33 across from SR 33. A vastly unsigned route, CR 582 loops north along Socrum Loop Road and west on Marcum Road to U.S. 98 at Gibsonia.

05/25/22

Old Combee Road passes over Interstate 4 ahead of the RIRO ramps at Exit 33 with CR 582 (Socrum Loop Road). RIRO ramps along I-4 eastbound link with adjacent SR 33 (Lakeland Hills Boulevard) at the Lakeland Harbor manufactured home community.

05/25/22

Exit 33 departs I-4 west for adjacent CR 582 at Lake Gibson. South of the freeway, SR 33 (Lakeland Hills Boulevard) continues to Publix-Marchant Stadium, home of the Minor League Lakeland Flying Tiger, to Massachusetts Avenue ahead of Downtown Lakeland.

05/25/22

Unsigned CR 582 resumes west from SR 33 (Lakeland Hills Boulevard) beside I-4 along N Florida Avenue to Griffin Road. CR 582 along Griffin Road crosses I-4 beyond Exit 32 west to Hillsborough County.

09/01/18

U.S. 98 heads north from Bartow Road outside Downtown Lakeland along Florida Avenue before curving northwest to the single point urban interchange at Exit 32.

04/09/26

Interstate 4 lines the south side of Wedgewood Golf and Country Club beyond this shield assembly. Carpenters Way passes over the freeway in the distance.

05/15/16

U.S. 98 links Lakeland with the Pasco County seat of Dade City, 25 miles to the northwest. Southward U.S. 98 circumvents Downtown Lakeland en route to the Polk County seat of Bartow.

04/09/26

Two lanes depart I-4 west for Exit 32 and U.S. 98 (Providence Road). U.S. 98 travels 964 miles overall between Palm Beach on the Atlantic Coast and southwest Mississippi.

01/13/26

U.S. 98 constitutes a busy commercial arterial three miles north from Downtown Lake to Lakeland Square Mall nearby.

09/20/17

SR 539 (Kathleen Road) converges with Interstate 4 northwest from central Lakeland at Exit 31. Polk County Road 35A continues Kathleen Road northwest to Griffin, Galloway and Kathleen.

06/07/24

Traffic counts along Interstate 4 between U.S. 98 and SR 539 surged from 79,000 vehicles per day (vpd) recorded by FDOT in 2013 to 103,000 vpd in 2017, and 116,500 vpd in 2024.

06/07/24

Westbound I-4 at the diamond interchange (Exit 31) with Kathleen Road for SR 539 south and CR 35A north.

06/07/24

SR 539 south transitions into SR 563 (Sikes Boulevard) at Lake Wire Drive. SR 563 extends from there along a short expressway between the RP Funding (Lakeland) Center, the sports and entertainment arena for the city, and Munn Park Historic District, an area featuring structures from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

05/31/16

Interstate 4 runs along the Lakeland city line between the Bella Vista Street and W 10th Street overpasses.

06/07/24

The design of this distance sign predates both the addition of the westbound ramp at Exit 28 for SR 546 (Memorial Boulevard) and Exit 27 at the west end of Polk Parkway.

04/09/26

A wye interchange at Exit 28 previously provided access onto W Memorial Boulevard (SR 546) from I-4 eastbound. Redesign of the exchange to a diamond interchange took place during the Polk County widening project for I-4 in 2005-06.

04/09/26

Signs for Exit 28 erroneously referenced SR 546 (Memorial Highway) as directly connecting with U.S. 92. An email to FDOT by AARoads in January 2008 resulted in the addition of "TO" overlays on signage in both directions of I-4. U.S. 92 turns onto Memorial Boulevard from Wabash Avenue 1.6 miles to the east.

05/15/16

Mostly as the unsigned counterpart of U.S. 92, SR 546 follows Memorial Boulevard 5.85 miles east from Exit 28 to Lake Parker Avenue (SR 700) in Lakeland. Paralleling I-4 to the south, U.S. 92 follows New Tampa Highway west from Wabash Avenue into Plant City.
This assembly is a carbon copy of sign knocked down earlier in 2019.

04/09/26

A pair of frontage roads accompany Interstate 4 west from County Road 542A (Galloway Road) to Plant City.

05/15/16

Polk Parkway west returns to Interstate 4 at a trumpet interchange (Exit 27) near the Hillsborough County line.

05/15/16

SR 570 joins Interstate 4 with Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL) at Exit 3 and Medulla at Exit 5. Lakeland Linder Regional became an International Airport with the opening of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office on November 16, 2017 (Guin, 2017).

05/30/19

An auxiliary lane opens from SR 546 (Memorial Boulevard) to Exit 27 for Polk Parkway east. SR 570 loops southeast to SR 37 (Florida Avenue) for Mulberry and U.S. 98 (Bartow Road) to Bartow.

02/12/24

The subsequent exit beyond Polk Parkway links Interstate 4 with County Line Road. County Line Road follows the Polk/Hillsborough boundary southward 7.68 miles to SR 60 east of Hopewell.

05/15/16

Exit 27 loops onto the Polk Parkway toll road east from Interstate 4 west. The westernmost portion of SR 570 (Polk Parkway) opened to traffic on August 9, 1998 (FTE, 2005).

02/12/24

County Line Road meets I-4 at a folded diamond interchange (Exit 25) by an array of distribution and logistics centers in both Lakeland and Plant City.

05/04/24

An auxiliary lane from Polk Parkway to County Line Road expands westbound Interstate 4 to four lanes.

09/11/17

County Line Road ties into Swindell Road just north of Exit 25; Swindell Road leads west to Mt. Enon. South of Interstate 4, County Line Road meets U.S. 92 at Youmans.

02/12/24