At its latest meeting last week, the Central Florida Expressway Authority Governing Board approved a preferred route for the Southport Connector expressway as part of its Project Development & Environment (PD&E) study.
The road will eventually connect the south end of Poinciana Parkway to Florida’s Turnpike and south Canoe Creek Road east of Poinciana some 15 miles away. It is proposed to run down the median of Cypress Parkway, continue east of Pleasant Hill Road, curve north around Lake Russell then continue south of Lake Tohopekaliga, reaching the Turnpike and Canoe Creek at interchanges.
The routing, especially along Cypress Parkway, has been the subject of controversy and opposition from nearby residents, who said the road would bring added noise, and would cut them off from shopping areas on the other side, which may lose their parking lots or buildings all together once right of way is acquired for the project.
Through a number of community meetings in 202425, CFX has provided an amended idea of using bridges at the major intersections like at Marigold and Doverplum avenues and Solivita Boulevard.
The PD&E Study will be finalized in early 2026, CFX officials said. The future schedule for design and construction will depend upon finding funding partners to increase financial viability for the project, as toll collections are currently anticipated to cover less of the overall $2.5 billion construction cost than the authority’s guidelines call for.
“CFX will evaluate phasing scenarios and work to identify funding partners to increase financial viability before the project moves forward to design and construction,” CFX Public Information Officer Mary Brooks said.
She also noted that once the funding plan can be determined and programmed, the project could move forward to design and construction.
Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington, Osceola’s representative to the CFX governing board, grew up in the area and said he’s been hearing about a concept like this road “all my life.” He showed fellow commissioners a video of what the road would conceptually look like at their Monday meeting.
“It’s shocking to see the scale of it,” he said Monday. “The improvements to the intersections are an insurmountable lift for the county to do this, so I’m glad CFX is taking this on.”
Southport Connector is a piece of a beltway of connected toll roads proposed or already built. Poinciana Parkway connects Cypress Parkway to U.S. Highway 17-92, and has been expanded to four lanes north of Marigold Avenue. State and federal funds will be used to create a connection from the north end of that road to County Road 532 (Osceola-Polk Line Road), and then another connection to Interstate 4 that will link to the interchange at another toll road, State Road 429.
