Agency presents proposed options to extend SR 408 to rural east Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Central Florida Expressway Authority is set to lay out its plans Thursday afternoon to extend State Road 408 to rural east Orange County.

A public workshop is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Eastpoint Fellowship church to discuss four proposed options for pushing the road seven miles east to the State Road 50-State Road 520 interchange near Wedgefield.

Last year, the Florida Department of Transportation canned the agency's original proposed extension that would trace portions of East Colonial Drive.

FDOT said it would handle the expansion itself, but the Expressway Authority completed a study about how to move forward.

The study's objective, the agency said, is to help it reach a decision on the type, design, location and feasibility of the potential eastern extension.

Motorist Maria Singh said she’s no fan of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

“It's a little hectic,” she said. “I mean, we are growing every year.”

Motorist Jessica Rocker said she often drives the toll road to avoid the heavy traffic that regularly clogs East Colonial Drive.

“My daughter goes to school downtown, she said. “So the commute is very important to me.”

Rocker said she likes the proposal, but has some concerns about it. What she doesn’t like, she said, is that some of the proposed extension options would cut though residential developments such as Avalon Park.

“I wouldn't want a main thoroughfare or anything coming through or directly into our neighborhood,” she said. “That would just put more congestion on us in the morning. And that's why you move farther away [from] downtown, so you don't have to deal with so much congestion right outside your door.”

The meeting, which is open to the public, is expected to last until 7 p.m.

Cox Media Group