for southern portions of the state. It serves as an alternative to I-75 and I-95, supporting evacuation from the more densely populated southern Florida and coastal counties including the Florida Keys. When the State experienced Hurricane Irma in 2017, 6.8 million Floridians evacuated their homes, mostly in southern Florida. US 27 was used as a major evacuation route to move Floridians north into Central Florida and outside of the state. Portions of US 27 through Highlands County experienced travel times nearly four times higher than normal. Mass evacuation events such as Hurricane Irma demonstrate US 27 along with Florida's main interstates do not have the capacity to handle the totality of traffic evacuating as well as the need to support the movements of disaster response teams and recovery fleets. As storm frequency and intensity increase due to changing climate conditions, additional capacity is needed on the transportation network to serve regional evacuation trips and alleviate the increased congestion and travel times on the US 27 corridor. Most recently, US 27 in Highlands County served as part of the I-75 detour following the interstate's temporary closure post Hurricane Ian.