Universal Boulevard runs roughly parallel to International Drive from the Beachline Expressway north, then crosses I-Drive at Wet 'n Wild - Orlando and intersects I-4 via an overpass into the Universal Orlando Resort. Originally built as Republic Drive, it originally stopped at International Drive and fed into ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound. In 1998, the extension north into Universal Studios was opened (in preparation for the opening of Islands of Adventure in 1999), and the road was renamed to Universal Blvd. The intersection at I-4 still only has ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound; the ramps on westbound I-4 connect not to Universal Blvd., but to Hollywood Way, necessitating a right turn to get to Universal Blvd.
Southbound, it originally fed into I-Drive just north of the Orange County Convention Center (the current West Building). The north corner of the intersection is now the Pointe Orlando shopping district. When the North Building (then Phase V) of the OCCC was planned, it was also planned to extend Universal Boulevard along its current alignment on the north side of the North Building. Plans were made in conjunction with the Williamsburg subdivision to design the intersection at the Beachline Expressway so that traffic would not inadvertently clog Orangewood Blvd., which already met the Beachline at that point (Exit 2). The extension was opened in early 2003, and the old connector to I-Drive at Pointe Orlando was renamed Pointe Plaza Avenue. An electric sign system on the Beachline directs convention-goers to the proper road so as to avoid unnecessary traffic on I-Drive.
Universal Blvd. currently has fewer businesses, thus much less traffic serving as an overflow exit road for the Orange County Convention Center during major events. Currently, several planned communities and extended-stay business apartments are planned for the corridor, including the Village of Imagine, across from the OCCC North Building. The University of Central Florida opened the off-campus Rosen College of Hospitality Management, funded by local hotelier Harris Rosen, in 2005 at Universal Blvd. and the Beachline. Universal Blvd. is currently six lanes from Vineland Rd. southbound to International Drive, then four lanes southbound to Pointe Plaza Ave., then six lanes again to the Beachline. Only one lane in each direction passes under the Beachline to connect to Orangewood Blvd., which is four lanes on the other side.
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Famous quotes containing the words universal and/or boulevard:
“... the ordinary is simply the universal observed from the surface, that the direct approach to reality is not without, but within. Touch life anywhere ... and you will touch universality wherever you touch the earth.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)
“Arrive in the afternoon, the late light slanting
In diluted gold bars across the boulevard brag
Of proud, seamed faces with mercy and murder hinting
here, there, interrupting, all deep and debonair,
The pink paint on the innocence of fear;
Walk in a gingerly manner up the hall.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)