OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – State and local leaders met Tuesday morning for a transportation summit to discuss several road projects that are underway or planned for Central Florida.
One of those projects includes east and westbound auxiliary lanes on Interstate 4 from ChampionsGate up to State Road 429.
Once we can get those in place, that will really start to help improve congestion and the movement of traffic,” said Florida Department of Transportation District 5 Secretary John Tyler. “We are looking forward to the eastbound auxiliary lane being opened this summer and the westbound auxiliary lane later this summer.”
Deputy County Manager for Osceola County Tawny Olore also mentioned improvements to Neptune, Simpson, and Partin Settlement roads and the construction of a beltway in the county.
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“These people up here, they’re working for you and they we are implementing transportation,” Olore said. “Can it happen fast enough? Transportation always takes time. But in the next five years, you all are going to see a lot of movement and a lot of dirt being moved.”
But the improvements won’t come without growing pains.
“We’re going to do our best,” said Osceola County District 2 Commissioner Viviana Janer. “We have a PIO [public information officer] that we hired to get that information to the public, so you know where the construction is happening and maybe plan your alternate routes. So, we’re doing everything we can to keep the community informed, but there will be a lot of construction. So basically, pardon our dust while we improve our roads.
Funding could also pose a problem, Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted $7 billion set aside for infrastructure, but the legislature allocated $4 billion.
“Obviously, I cannot say that I’m not concerned because there are 20 good projects,” Janer said. “But I think that Central Florida is really the heart of the state, and this is where we have the prime congestion, the prime number of tourists coming to visit our area, so I am hoping that all of our projects could get underway because they’re very needed.”
If you’d like to learn more about the current road projects in Osceola County, click here.
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