Serving on local transportation boards is consequential to moving projects forward that benefit District 2 residents. One noteworthy project for the Central Florida Expressway (CFX) is the new Orange/Lake County Expressway connecting SR 429 south of District 2 with Hwy 27 in Lake County.
If your sense of geography cannot place this connector, SR 516, it is near the back entrance to Disney World off SR 429. If you have ever been stuck in traffic on I-4 in Osceola County, south of the attractions, this road will benefit you. This alternative will improve your travel by taking US 27 near Haines City north to the connector or SR 516 and then crossing eastwards along the one-mile new expressway to reach SR 429.
An additional benefit of this new roadway will be Valencia State College. If you weren’t aware, a future Horizon West Campus of Valencia State College will be located off this connector.
The Notice to Proceed for construction is anticipated to be issued in April 2024, with the project completed in the fourth quarter of 2027. We will celebrate the start of the $219 million segment with a groundbreaking ceremony in March.
I love new roadway groundbreakings. When SR 429 opened twenty years ago, I took my then-elementary school children with their bikes to ride on the pavement before the roadway opened. How fitting that a young mom so interested in roadway projects now serves on two major transportation boards.
At my last meeting, I was also presented with an economic impact and benefits study for the CFX Five-Year Work Plan by Dr. Concas, Ph.D.m a USF professor, on Autonomous and Connected Mobility Evaluations.
I previously recognized as an amateur historian the economic impact for a community on receiving cutting edge transportation improvements. Imagine the time when our world went from water travel to trains, to automobiles, to airplanes, to the internet. The world changes, and to be forward-thinking is to be more prosperous.
Dr. Concas lists the economic impact of the new CFX roadways to include: $3.8 billion in GDP, 7,157 new jobs, $2.4 billion in wages and income, and an additional $214 million in local and state tax revenue. If this isn’t enough, read about the annual travel benefits.
The CFX Five-year work plan results in $1.4 billion in travel time savings – or $1,044 per household. I joked with Dr. Concas that perhaps idling in a Chick-fil-A drive-through was not a financial or environmental benefit.
How about this one in reducing the economic impact of reduced crash costs - $106.1 million? Also, consider $18.7 million in reduced environmental impacts (tailpipe emissions) and improvements saving each household in avoidance of congested travel. These commuters gain more than 69 additional hours per year.
The professor evaluated the impacts of these new limited access roadways in three buckets: project expenditures based on employment and business output, travel improvements and results based on travel time savings, crash reductions, out-of-pocket cost savings to drivers, and emission reductions. And the third is the economic benefits for employment, business output, household savings, and new local tax revenues.
It is worth repeating that the travel time savings of the new CFX roadways are 69 hours annually. Again, this is realized by reducing wasted travel time. Out-of-pocket cost savings include $78.9 million in gasoline, which translates to $68 per household—and $10.6 million in savings on medical expenses from crash avoidance. Limited access roadways are safer than those arterials near your home. This is due to reduced points of conflict. On a limited access roadway, you go in one direction with fewer cars entering and leaving the highway.
Finally, household cost savings's indirect and induced effects include $64.7 million in GDP and additional support jobs of 548.
Next time you drive along major highways, think about all the benefits of this improved form of travel. I know SR 429 gets blamed for the planned growth in northwest Orange County. I had not considered all these other benefits of SR 429. I know the proposed second deck along SR 414 through Lockhart will create an alternative, quicker route for me to drive back and forth to my home in Apopka. I will now think more fondly of I-4 in reducing the time and money with my long commute.
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