The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) recently held two public meetings for the design of State Road 534 - Phase 2. CFX held in person and virtual meetings last week. Over 110 people were logged in to attend the virtual meeting.
The project is a 14-mile, limited-access toll road that extends from State Road 417 near Boggy Creek Road in Orange County to Nova Road in Osceola County. Construction will occur in three phases, with Phase 1 running from 417 to Narcoossee Road.
Phase 2 takes the road from east of Narcoossee Road to Cyrils Drive, including through a controversial section through 60 acres of the Split Oak Forrest Wildlife and Environmental Area. The 3,000-acre area was set aside almost 30 years ago as an ecological corridor of private and publicly conserved lands to mitigate destruction of similar wildlands elsewhere for development and is administered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Construction of both Phase 1 and 2 is projected to begin in 2027, with completion in 2030.
The final phase will continue the road down to Nova Road, east of St. Cloud, and the completion of all three phases will result in the northeastern segment of CFX’s “southern beltway,” connecting Poinciana to Florida’s Turnpike and SR 417 through east Osceola County.
Outside of the in-person meeting, a press conference broadcast via Facebook Live was held featuring Orange County District 5 Commissioner Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad and Save Split Oak supporters to express opposition to the road’s impact on Split Oak.
Semrad decried the fact that the meeting was even allowed to take place since Orange County is currently in litigation with CFX over the use of almost three acres of Eagles Roost Park, an environmentally sensitive area, which is just outside of the forest and owned by Orange County, for the project. In addition, she cited the fact that a 2022 Orange County referendum overwhelmingly came out against the use of Split Oak and any other Orange County property for the toll road project.
Other speakers expressed disappointment with the FWC and the South Florida Water Management District for not opposing the project in light of their stated mandates of managing fish and wildlife resources, and restoring South Florida’s water resources and ecosystems, respectively.
At the same time, the project has been shown in Osceola’s Comprehensive Plan since 2005, and CFX has conducted almost 20 public meetings, including required meetings as part of the formal Project Development and Environment transportation planning process. Many of the meetings held have been with specific communities and stakeholders.
For more information on the State Road 534 project, see https://bit.ly/4AC6ta2.
