Interstate 4 overhaul up to 8 months behind schedule, $100 million over budget

July 12--The rebuilding of Interstate 4 is up to eight months behind its scheduled completion in 2021 and $100 million over budget, according to state officials and reports from Moody's Investors Service.

Work began in 2015 along a 21-mile section of I-4 north of State Road 434 in Seminole, through Orlando and west of Florida's Turnpike in Orange County.

In late June, the investment advisor Moody's downgraded its outlook for the builder's construction loans in the $2.3 billion project to "negative." The Moody's report said the revision of the loan outlook to negative reflects a 245-day extension and a $100 million claim filed with the state's transportation department by I-4 Mobility Partners.

The builder is I-4 Mobility partners, a joint venture of Skanska, Granite and Lane, three major construction companies that have significant experience in Central Florida. I-4 Mobility partners is a major investor in the I-4 Ultimate overhaul of the interstate into a hybrid with toll lanes.

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel

I-4 construction.

I-4 construction. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)

Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Olson said the "department is in the process of reviewing this claim at this time."

I-4 Mobility Partners did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The Moody's report states that I-4 Mobility Partners has failed in efforts to drill shafts for foundations and experienced "minor" flooding in May that led to lane closures and "increased oversight by FDOT."

Moody's noted that the Florida Department of Transportation has 120 days to review the delay and claim.

"The contractors are implementing mitigation strategies to try and reduce the impact on the schedule," the Moody's report states.

Check back for more in this developing story.

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