A community meeting held at Harmony High School last week can probably be considered the unofficial “kick-off ” of the planning for no less than four major road projects that will affect residents in St. Cloud, Harmony, and most other areas on the east side of the county.
Tuesday night’s meeting, called by Osceola County Commissioner Ricky Booth, brought well over 200 residents into the school’s auditorium to hear about plans for the new Sunbridge Parkway Extension. The new road project will extend the existing Botanic Boulevard, which splits the Harmony West development, and weave its way east and then north around the Bay Lake Ranch community. The road will then intersect Nova Road and link up with the planned Osceola Parkway extension coming south from Orange County.
The occasionally contentious meeting had some residents of Harmony West expressing concern about the inevitable significant increase in vehicles through their development, and several claimed they were never told the road could become a major traffic artery. Bay Lake Ranch residents decried the intrusion and impact of a new four-lane road into their peaceful rural neighborhood, with many under the impression that such a significant road could never be developed outside of the county’s designated urban growth boundary.
Both groups questioned why the proposed route of the road could not be pushed further east and were told another proposed toll road, the Northeast Extension, would be coming through in the immediate vicinity just east of Sunbridge Parkway. Several commenters from the audience asked if Sunbridge’s route could be a frontage road along State Road 515, similar to the configuration of State Road 46 along the Wekiva Parkway in Seminole County. Commissioner Booth and the senior county staff present committed to ensuring that option would be evaluated. Construction on the road, once designed, is anticipated for 2028-2029.
Just two nights later, again at Harmony High, the Central Florida Expressway made an update presentation on the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study for the Northeast Extension. This project will connect the Florida Turnpike to U.S. 192 east of St. Cloud and Harmony, and continue north to the planned Osceola Parkway extension, covering a distance of 15-20 miles. Hundreds of people attended the presentation, viewed displays, and met one-on-one with Turnpike staff and project consultants.
At least three possible routes are under consideration, needing to wind through a maze of lakes and both public and private designated wetland mitigation banks, all while trying to avoid as many residential areas as practical. Again, many were dismayed that such a project could be planned outside of the urban growth boundary. One young lady while viewing the displays commented that she was “trying so hard not to cry right now,” while several others indicated they would immediately plan on selling and moving out of the area. While no firm time frame for construction has been set, 2030 seems a likely target date.
The two projects presented this week will run concurrently with two more projects in the immediate vicinity. These are the widening of Nova Road, and also the Florida Turnpike from State Road 60 to just north of Clay Whaley Road Presentations were just made recently on both projects and will be reported on next week.
For more information on Sunbridge Parkway: see https://bit.ly/4bBpQDQ.
For more information on the State Road 515 Northeast Extension see: https://bit.ly/ 41DnDmO.
