Orange Co. commissioner calls for temporary halt to Osceola Parkway expansion plans

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Commissioner Jennifer Thompson is asking the county's legal team to look at filing an injunction halting planning on the Osceola County Parkway.

Thompson said she wants the planning stopped until "the question of local government authority can be answered," according to a news release from Thompson's office.

The Osceola County Expressway Authority has plans to extend the parkway. That extension would take the road through a portion of neighboring Orange County and would displace some homeowners. Other homeowners said the roadway would greatly reduce the value of their homes.

On Wednesday Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs sent out a memo asking that the Osceola project planning be "transparent."

In the memo, Jacobs said, "I question the standing of the Osceola County Expressway to attempt to condemn land and construct a roadway within Orange County's (borders) without the permission of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners."

Thompson is also asking that the county seek a court's opinion on whether Osceola County Expressway Authority has the authority to build in another county.

"Our primary goal is protecting our citizens and the investment they have made in their homes and in their lifestyles," she in a press release. "A road built by another county without our citizens' approval is unacceptable."

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