Warning that the time to build is quickly running out, the Central Florida Expressway Authority board unanimously agreed on Thursday to move forward with constructing a toll road — first proposed decades ago — between State Road 417 and the Orlando Sanford International Airport.
At a cost of more than $200 million, the two-lane thoroughfare would help alleviate traffic congestion in one of the fastest-growing areas of Seminole County and ease access to an expanding airfield, its supporters say.
“This is really critical, and the time is now or never,” said Christopher Maier, chair of the toll road agency’s 10-member board. “Because we keep growing and more rooftops are popping up. So let’s seize this opportunity right now.”
Construction of the roughly two-mile long roadway is still years away, as CFX must first figure out how to pay for the project. That includes spending an estimated $18.3 million acquiring existing houses and properties along the route.
Toll revenues are estimated to generate $48.1 million over 40 years for the project. But that’s less than a quarter of the total cost of $200.4 million. CFX’s master plan recommends toll revenues cover at least half the cost of a construction project, said Glenn Pressimone, the agency’s chief of infrastructure.
“As such, the project has a [financial] viability shortfall,” he said.
The rest of the money would have to come from surrounding local governments — including Seminole County and the city of Sanford — along with state and federal grants.
Last November, Seminole voters approved the county adding an extra penny to the state sales tax to pay for new roads. In addition, Seminole commissioners agreed this summer to add five cents to the price of every gallon of gas sold in the county, starting Jan. 1, also to pay for roads and mass transportation.
Local officials have said that traffic on Lake Mary Boulevard near the airport has grown more congested over the years, and will become even worse as more homes and apartments continue to be built.
In addition, the airport is expected to grow. Last year, the airport handled nearly 2.9 million passengers, an 81% increase from 2005, when it had 1.6 million.
By the year 2050, Seminole’s population is expected to balloon by 21% to more than 585,000 residents. Lake Mary Boulevard is expected to have 44% more cars and trucks by then.
About two years ago, CFX proposed four routes for the connector, all of which showed northbound drivers getting on the new road near the Lake Jesup toll plaza on S.R. 417 and traveling northeast, then onto Red Cleveland Boulevard directly into the airport property north of Lake Mary Boulevard.
Drivers heading south on SR 417 would not be able to directly access the toll road.
On Thursday, board members approved a final route, which meanders through mostly farmland and undeveloped areas between the airport and SR 417, just northwest of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority board on Thursday unanimously approved route 2A, as they agreed to move forward with building a two-lane connector road between State Road 417 and the Orlando Sanford International Airport. (Central Florida Expressway Authority)
Frank Ioppolo Jr., a member of the airport’s board of directors, called the proposed connector “the single most important regional transportation project” in the county.
Rebekah Arthur, president and CEO of the Seminole County Chamber, added that the new road will help economic growth around the airport.
“For the businesses that use the airport and around the airport, they know this cannot come quickly enough,” she said. “The traffic around the airport continues to build and become more and more congested. With this connection in place, we can significantly expand how we utilize the airport and its adjacent industrial and office spaces.”
No one spoke in opposition to the project at the meeting.
Last June, however, Sanford resident Becky Burke learned at a community meeting the proposed route for the connector road would cut through the middle of her late 19th-century home.
Her neighbor off of Bloom Lane, Adam Shafran, also learned the proposed road would slice through his house and nursery of exotic fruit trees he worked for years to accumulate.
Neither could be reached for comment on Friday. But both had said they understood that eventually they would have to leave their quiet rural pocket of Seminole County.
Under Florida’s eminent domain laws, property owners would have to be offered fair compensation after an independent appraisal. Owners can then appeal and be compensated for their attorneys’ fees.
Seminole Commissioner Andria Herr, who represents the county on the CFX board, said it’s critical to move forward on the project before any more new development is built along the route.
“It is difficult to build a road through any community,” she said. “But now is the time to do it, based on the fact that there are more housing developments going into this specific area. So this will have the least impact, if you can imagine that, on residents in that area if we do it now. If we don’t do this now, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to do it.”
