The Alligator Alley segment of I-75 extends from a toll plaza just east of Naples to an interchange with I-595 and the Sawgrass Expressway (SR-869 Toll) in Sunrise, FL, just west of Fort Lauderdale. The highway previously existed as a two-lane tollway connecting the two coasts of Florida. Initially known as the Everglades Parkway (State Road 84), it opened for traffic on February 11, 1968, after four years of construction. Built by H. L. Mills Construction Company, it had been called the most controversial roadway ever built in Florida during its initial construction. The name "Alligator Alley" was given by the American Automobile Association while it was being planned as they believed it would be useless to cars and merely an "alley for alligators". However, as alligators often frequent the waterways beside the road, and occasionally the roadway itself, the nickname has developed a somewhat literal meaning. The state moved to officially adopt the “Alligator Alley” name in 1966.