LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – The Lake County Commission voted to approve a bid for a project that will hopefully result in a connector road between Lake and Orange counties.
During its meeting on Tuesday, the Lake County Commission approved a bid for their portion of the roundabout project at Sawgrass Bay Boulevard near Flemings Road in Orange County.
The hope for the project is that Flemings Road in Orange County will eventually connect to Sawgrass Bay Boulevard in Lake County.
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However, people who drive back and forth between Lake and Orange counties have created a makeshift dirt road as a short cut to reach Flemings Road from Sawgrass Bay Boulevard and vice-versa.
The road is by no means an official road.
Over in Lake County, a gate was put up to prevent people from using the dirt road to get to Flemings Road and in Orange County, a cement barrier was placed across Flemings Road to stop traffic from passing through.
We spoke to HOA President of the Sawgrass Bay community, James Klinck, who told us the shortcut is used to shave time off of people’s daily commutes, especially those who work at Disney.
“They have to go all the way down 27, probably 192 and then one of those roads off of 192 into Disney,” Klinck said. “Whereas this would give them a straight run right through Western Way and to Disney.”
Klinck estimates the shortcut would save people about 20 minutes on their commutes.
While Lake County has approved the bid for their portion of the project, Orange County said it is up to the signatory owners of the land to construct the connector road between Lake and Orange counties.
They told News 6, “The latest approved road network agreement requires the signatory owners to complete the Flemings Road connection to Lake County to occur no later than January 1, 2026.”
Klinck said people who bought homes in the area have been waiting a long time for the connector road.
“A lot of them when they bought their homes here, they were promised that the connection to Disney would be made,” Klinck said. “That goes back, you know, five or six years. The builders said ‘oh yeah, it’s going to happen in a couple of years,’ and it’s taken a long time.”
News 6 also reached out to Lake County to see where they are in the process after approving the bid on Tuesday.
Spokeswoman for Lake County, Sarah Lux, told us, “We are continuing to coordinate with Orange County on the roundabout,” Lux said. “The County Commission accepted a bid for the plan yesterday, allowing us to move forward with our portion of the project.”
A sign has been placed at the end of Sawgrass Bay Boulevard where the roundabout is set to go in that says the connector road will be completed by Jan. 1, 2026.