Refinancing bonds freed funds for multiple high-end projects; see what’s finishing— and starting
Osceola County currently boasts an abundance of two things: Traffic … and road construction projects, designed to help alleviate the first, while creating more of it as the projects are completed.
The Osceola Board of County Commissioners budgeted $200 million in 2019 through the refinancing of Osceola Parkway bonds that set off a slew of long-overdue road expansion and widening projects, mostly for roads east of Kissimmee and extending east of St. Cloud.
Combined with Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) projects constructing new toll roads from Poinciana to northeast of St. Cloud, and major work on Florida’s Turnpike south of U.S. 192, the orange and white striped traffic barrel is working its way to become the county’s official state flower or tree.
Recent project completions include the South Simpson Road/Fortune Road intersection and Simpson Road from Osceola Parkway to Boggy Creek Road. Partin Settlement Road and Poinciana Boulevard are both anticipated to be completed this summer, while the Boggy Creek widening and Simpson Road form Fortune to Osceola Parkway are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Neptune Road improvements are almost complete for the north segment from Partin Settlement Road to King’s Crest Road. The south segment, to U.S. 192, is not projected to be completed until mid-2027. County officials say the southern portion requires additional time due to complex underground and structural work, including two bridges, and replacing the Peghorn Slough culvert.
All of these timelines are dependent on what kind of rainy/hurricane season we experience this summer.
Traffic signals along Neptune Road are slated to be fully synchronized upon project completion, also according to county officials. This is good news considering the close proximity of a new signal at Sergeant Graham Drive to the intersection of Neptune Road and Old Canoe Creek Road, and a new signal at Breezewood Street, very close to the existing signal at the entrances to Tohoqua and Neptune Middle School.
In Buenaventura Lakes, work on a Safety Improvements project on Buenaventura Boulevard, from Florida Parkway to Osceola Parkway, begins this month. One part would see the construction of road and traffic signal improvements over a distance of approximately 1.4 miles. A separate Complete Streets from Simpson Road to Osceola Parkway, a distance of approximately 2.4 miles, includes roundabouts at Trotter’s Circle and Florida Parkway, a 12-foot-wide shareduse path, and additional flashing beacons at pedestrian crossings. The projects, combining local transportation funding with state and federal grants to reduce reliance on local tax dollars, are anticipated to cost $22 million and be completed in early 2028.
“We heard the community’s need for a safer, more accessible Buenaventura Boulevard, and this project delivers on that promise,” said Commissioner Viviana Janer, whose District 2 includes the corridor.
Future projects in planning include a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study, the very first step in a new road project, to start in late 2026 for the widening of Old Canoe Creek Road, from Canoe Creek Road to Clay Whaley Road.
An Adaptive Signal System on Osceola Parkway from Dyer Boulevard to Florida’s Turnpike Interchange is in the design phase, and work is scheduled to begin in Oct. 2026 and finish by March 2027. The project intends to install signal technology to automatically identify traffic changes/congestion problems and auto-adjust the timings along the corridor accordingly to improve traffic flow. The new system will control 11 traffic signals from Dyer to the Turnpike, approximately 3.3 miles.
For more information on these, and many more Osceola County transportation projects and updates, see https://bit. ly/4n5J2iR.
