OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Channel 9 Eyewitness News got a first-hand look at progress being made along the Poinciana Parkway that aims to give people who live in Poinciana another way out of town.
For the thousands of drivers who will save gas and time taking the road, it's been a long time coming.
"Finally, we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train," Osceola County Expressway Authority Chairman Atlee Mercer said.
Mercer said building the Poinciana Parkway aims to give drivers another escape route from town, relieve congestion on the Cyprus Parkway and get between 10 and 20 percent traffic off the bridge, bypassing the backups.
"In the morning, it can be terrible. On Cyprus Parkway, there are probably 40,000 to 50,000 cars that go across there and it just doesn't have the capacity to handle it," said Mercer.
The new mile-long bridge will connect Poinciana to State Road 1792, crossing the Reedy Creek swamp.
Driver Cynthia Navarro said it will her cut down on the nearly $400 a month she spends on gas, driving 90 minutes a day in her car on the way to law school classes in downtown Orlando.
"I'm looking forward to shaving off at least an hour off my commute a day, saving a lot of mileage on my car, saving some money and getting to places on time," Navarro said.
Navarro said with the way traffic is now, she has to leave home nearly three hours early and she knows others in a similar situation.
"There's 85,000 people who live in Poinciana and at one time or another, all of them have been stuck in traffic and have needed to get somewhere," Mercer said.
The project is set to be completed by the end of next year.
Mercer said it will provide options for the thousands of drivers who stand to benefit from the project.