Seminole commissioners hesitant to spend $300K to fix up US-17-92

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Only Channel 9 has learned some Seminole County commissioners are concerned about plans to spend $300,000 to fix US-17-92.

The money would also go toward new landscaping along a 13-mile stretch from Sanford to Fern, replacing plants that never should have been planted in the first place.

Some of those plants are brown and brittle, unable to hold up in the hot weather without irrigation.

"Been looking plain and dull for years," said the Rev. Tolbert Alexander, a local pastor. "I've been traveling these roads for almost 20 years. It's just plain."

Officials are looking to spend the $300,000 to improve the 13-mile stretch of roadway, but some commissioners are concerned about the cost and the fact that the Florida Department of Transportation is about to widen the road and officials don't want the county to make any more mistakes.
A few years ago, county leaders spent some money improving the area near Fern Park. Some of those improvements held up while others, like dying vegetation, have not.

Officials said the irrigation just wasn't there to keep the vegetation from dying.

Some of the $300,000 would be spent to add irrigation and plants along the corridor that could thrive in Florida weather.

But for the moment, the agenda item has been tabled until county leaders can discuss it.

WFTV