Initial segment The
Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority had been formed in 1963 for the purpose of building the
Bee Line Expressway. In early 1966, while that road was still under construction, Governor
Haydon Burns asked the OOCEA to look into an east–west
freeway across downtown
Orlando to relieve traffic on
State Road 50 (Colonial Drive). An engineering study recommended a western terminus at SR 50 west of
State Road 435 (Kirkman Road) and an eastern terminus at SR 50 east of
Goldenrod Road (
State Road 15A). One alternate ran close to SR 50, while the other – which was chosen by June 1969 – ran further south. Bonds were sold in May 1971. In December of that year, the OOCEA voted to name it the
Spessard Lindsay Holland East–West Expressway, in honor of
Spessard Holland, who had just retired from representing Florida in the
U.S. Senate.
Groundbreaking was held just east of
Semoran Boulevard on February 5, 1972. The final design took SR 408 across
Interstate 4 just south of Anderson Street. The
interchange – a
double trumpet – connected to I-4 south of Gore Street, and resulted in the closure of four of the six ramps at Gore Street, which had intersected I-4 with a six-ramp
partial cloverleaf. (The loops were in the southwest and southeast quadrants.) To the east, SR 408 crossed Lake Underhill. East of
Goldenrod Road, the decision was made in 1970 to temporarily include three
at-grade intersections at Chickasaw Trail, Valencia College Lane and Millinocket Lane. In addition, the interchange with SR 417 was expanded. This resulted in the elimination of SR 4080 and the interchange with Valencia College Lane. Traffic to Valencia College was redirected to Chickasaw Trail and Dean Road. On October 13, 2016, Central Florida Expressway board members approved to rename a portion of SR 408 after professional golfer
Arnold Palmer. State Representative
Mike Miller and State Senator
David H. Simmons sponsored legislation for renaming the road, which was signed into law by Governor
Rick Scott on June 14, 2017. The section of SR 408 between Kirkman Road and Clarke Road was renamed the Arnold Palmer Expressway on July 1, 2017. A
stack interchange with
Interstate 4 near downtown
Orlando replaced the original double-trumpet interchange in recent years. The first construction phase began in April 2006 and was completed in November 2008. Due to a lack of funds, the rest of the interchange project was ultimately postponed until the I-4 Ultimate project. Following the first phase, the ramp that originally handled all traffic merging from I-4 only handled traffic from I-4 eastbound, which left abandoned lanes. A
ramp stub was constructed in advance of the completion the conversion to
stack interchange on SR 408 westbound. The
Florida Department of Transportation was responsible for this project. On May 19, 2020, Governor
Ron DeSantis formally opened the reconstructed SR 408 ramps with I-4. This was completed as part of the acceleration of I-4 Ultimate improvement project as part of the lack of traffic in Florida due to stay-at-home orders that were implemented within the state of Florida during the
COVID-19 pandemic. == Future ==