New Florida Parkway – View of Florida Highway — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Viktoriya A
In the Central Florida beltway, SR-429, I-4, and SR-417 now have a connection that might change the game.
Years went by while the billion-dollar project was developed.
There was a great celebration on a sunny Friday morning in Seminole County as the last section of the Wekiva Parkway was completed.
“Drivers have a new option to access areas throughout the region with little chance of slowdowns, John Tyler with the Florida Department of Transportation said.
Hundreds attended, and speeches were given, making it clear that this was a major event.
This stretch’s completion is expected to be revolutionary. It creates a wide traffic loop around Central Florida by joining I-4 with SR-417 and SR-429 links. Similar to Atlanta, this is a beltway.
Drivers now have additional options to branch out into Apopka, Sanford, and Mount Dora without being stuck in traffic in Orlando thanks to the newly constructed stretch.
A lot of drivers in Central Florida are enthusiastic about this development.
“It’s great. We live up here in Lake Mary. We can jump on and there are plenty of spots to jump off and you don’t have to wait in traffic. I like it a lot,” Joel Kouski said.
Wekiva Parkway construction began more than ten years ago. The last 2.6 miles were quite difficult to construct in terms of the surroundings. It passes over the Wekiva Rover, which is home to a variety of rare and endangered land animals.
“We had to have underpasses built that were free flow for bears because it al part of the Greenway Corridor going all the way up to Ocala – up to the National Forest — down to the Wekiva,” Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine said.
The entire Wekiva Parkway section, spanning 25 miles, came at a total cost of $1.6 billion.
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
