By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer

Atlee Mercer’s dream is beginning to take shape.

The chairman of the Osceola County Expressway Authority has funding, a plan, a route and the list of qualifications that designers must have to build the 10-mile Poinciana Parkway, the first in a series of four expressways the board hopes to build in a perimeter around Poinciana, St. Cloud and the county’s Northeast Corridor by 2040.

Authority officials in July officially issued the Request For Qualification in order to begin accepting build proposals and bids for Poinciana Parkway.

Two types of RFQs will be drawn up to reflect the two delivery methods available. A “Construction Manager at Risk” build would be more expensive in the long run, but affords the authority the power to hire all construction managers. A “Design Build” would save money project-wide but would put more of the control into the proposals drawn up by the construction firms vying for the job.

Mercer said the board intends to approach the building community with both methods available.

“The board is trying to keep its options open and get it right the first time,” he said.

Mercer said the board will accept RFQs from builders qualified to deliver the project using both methods and FDOT qualified (or able to easily get the qualification) for building bridges and roads.

The Poinciana Parkway will connect initially to U.S. Highway 17-92 near County Road 54 in Polk County at the north end. Heading south, it will cross Reedy Creek swampland on either a two or four-lane bridge, then continue south to an interchange with Marigold Avenue.

From there, the board favors a route that would veer west and follow Rhododendron Avenue down to Cypress Parkway. That alignment, rather than following Marigold, adds about $10 million to bringing the total cost to $70.8 million but requires fewer upgrades along Marigold, takes the road away from two school zones, allowing for a higher speed limit, and opens up more land to new development.

County Manager Don Fisher appeared before the board and said the county’s position is to pay for the road and have appropriate involvement in its planning and construction. The county will receive $50 million in toll revenues over the first five years of the road’s operation to offset the debt of building the road.

“We see this as your backstop money to get going,” Fisher said.

Even after securing funding, board members Bob Healy Jr. and Bill Folson expressed concern in using public money to build the road and implored the board to do its due diligence.

“Our voters and citizens need this road. This is not a ‘want to’ issue,” Folson said.

“But I’m still concerned because we’re using county tax dollars. I’m humbled they came to help us.”

Healy noted how much the plan for the road had changed since Avatar Homes, a major builder in Poinciana, originally planned to fund much of the road when it first went into the planning stage in 2008, before there ever was an Osceola County Expressway Authority (it was formed by the Legislature in 2010).

“We went from little to no government involvement in this project to the government funding this thing,” Healy said.

Mercer said building the project itself, even before it presents the benefits to area drivers, can bolster the economy.

“We’re spending upwards of $70 million. I would love for much of that to stay in Osceola County,” he said.

Mercer noted that building the bridge over wetlands at the north end of the parkway will be the biggest hurdle in getting the road built, so it’s one of the earliest considerations being worked out.

“Crossing the Reedy Creek Swamp is our Wekiva Parkway,” he said, referring to the $1.3 billion project in northwest Orange County to link State Road 417 to Interstate 4 through environmentally sensitive areas. “We’ve chosen to deal with it first rather than later, but in the end this will be a serious reliever road. Thirty percent of our county’s population needs this road.”

In previous County Commission discussions, Commissioner Brandon Arrington, whose district 3 includes Poinciana, said the parkway will be a step in the direction toward righting the traffic design flaws built before Poinciana swelled to nearly 60,000 residents.

“Pleasant Hill Road is a wonderful example of bad design,” he said. “Poinciana Parkway represents the start of a new mobility pattern.”