Rainbow Interchange

Rainbow Interchange
Lauderloop
Rainbow Interchange during the morning commute. Rainbow Interchange during the morning commute.
Location
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Coordinates:
Roads at junction:	I-95 I-595
Construction
Opened:	1989 (1989)
Maintained by:	FDOT
Map

The Rainbow Interchange is one of two named interchanges in southeastern Florida (the other being Miami's Golden Glades Interchange). It is a four-level stack interchange near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The local media dubbed the interchange between Interstate 95 (State Road 9) and Interstate 595 (SR 862) Rainbow because each overpass bridge is painted in a different color.

History

While the eastern segment of I-595 was officially opened on October 21, 1989, and I-595 was given Interstate highway status, on June 11, 1990, the Rainbow Interchange was not completed until March 22, 1991 (cost of building the interchange: $121 million).

In 1990, while the interchange was still under construction, the Miami Herald ran a contest in which its readers were requested to submit names for the soon-to-be important connection between two Interstate highways. The winning name was the Lauderloop, an ironic choice as four-level stack interchanges do not incorporate loops in their design. The contest was a short-term joke as virtually nobody in the local media referred to "Lauderloop" in their articles and reports involving the interchange, choosing the Rainbow moniker instead. In 2002, the Florida Department of Transportation decided to repaint the interchange in bold colors.

Description

The Rainbow Interchange marks the southern end of a segment of I-95 that sees traffic levels of roughly 300,000 automobiles per day in its 14 lanes, making it the busiest stretch of highway in the State of Florida; Interstate 595 carries half that load in its eight lanes just west of the colorful junction of two Interstate highways.