As Hurricane Irma closes in, the state is opening the left shoulder of Interstate 4 from Tampa to Orlando to assist traffic fleeing the west coast of Florida.
The state Department of Transportation and the Florida Highway Patrol ramped up the limited Emergency Shoulder Use plan on eastbound I-4 from 50th Street in Tampa to east of State Road 429/Western Beltway in Orlando.
Only the left shoulder is open to motorists where FHP troopers, police and highway signs indicate. The right shoulder is not open to overflow traffic, FDOT officials said Saturday.
Even though there are heavy pockets of evacuees on some stretches of I-4, traffic is flowing on the highway.
This is the second time in as many days that Hurricane Irma caused the shoulder of a highway to be used for evacuations.
The left shoulder of northbound I-75 from Wildwood to the Georgia state line was temporarily opened up to evacuees Friday to relieve congestion.
This is the first year that FDOT enacted the shoulder-use plan.
It replaced the controversial contraflow or one-way plan that was seen as too risky because it might cause head-on collisions between confused drivers going the wrong way on reversible lanes.
Besides the two interstates mentioned, the only other routes that could use shoulders include Interstate 75 along Alligator Alley and I-10 from Jacksonville to I-75.
FDOT said it has hundreds of workers monitoring traffic cameras around the clock at 13 traffic management centers around the state to ensure traffic flows continue and evacuations proceed without interruption.
When wind speeds exceed 45 mph, the FHP, local police, Road Rangers, and fire rescue will no longer respond to calls until the winds die down.
Drivers can call *FHP (*347) to request help or report a traffic incident.
Also, when wind speeds get high enough some of the 1,700 troopers working 12-hour shifts will start closing high profile bridges to traffic.
People who drive in hurricane conditions do so at their own risk, the FHP said.
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