Osceola took the first step Monday in widening one of the county’s most congested roadways, a route projected to more than double in traffic over the next few decades.
Commissioners unanimously and without discussion agreed that a wider Canoe Creek Road is necessary to handle future growth, allowing the county to move forward with expanding a 4.65 mile stretch between Deer Run Road and U.S. Route 192 from two lanes to four.
A study found the entire corridor is expected to grow by over 120% by 2050, doubling traffic that is already backed up during rush hour and causing most signalized intersections to fail. The study also found that the tremendous congestion along the corridor contributed to 550 crashes between 2017 and 2021, resulting in many injuries and two fatalities.
But the improvements are expensive — estimated to cost $157 million — and still needs to be funded.
The project is part of the county’s planned $2 billion in road improvements and will join other nearby roads that are set to be widened, including a different section of Canoe Creek Road from the Southport Connector to Deer Run Road and Hickory Tree Road. Although these projects have yet to begin construction, the entire area is set to be transformed to allow traffic in the St. Cloud area to flow more smoothly.
The project will be done in two segments The first from Deer Run Road to Pine Street and the second from Pine Street to US 192.
Both will include 11-foot-wide travel lanes, 4-foot-wide paved shoulders, a 16-foot wide median, a 10-foot-wide shared use path along the west side and a 6-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side. The 6-foot sidewalk will be much farther from the paved road in the first segment, at 34 feet away, because of a drainage basin.
The project will also add three new traffic signals at Portofino Vista Boulevard, Creek Woods Drive and Settlers Trail.
Eight noise barriers along existing neighborhoods will be added as part of the project as well.
County residents have long called for improvements to Canoe Creek Road. The issue came to a head in 2021 when the county and city of St. Cloud partnered to begin the project development and environment study, a federal and state requirement. The city put up $2 million for the study, while the county took the lead on garnering a contract with a consulting firm to complete it.
Throughout the two different public comment periods, the county received nearly 100 comments with many saying they were eager for the project’s completion.
“What is the timeline of the project?,” one St. Cloud resident wrote to the county. “We are looking at construction by the turnpike and lakeshore. The traffic is a nightmare.”
