The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) held a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of its first five miles of the Wekiva Parkway (State Road 429) on Thursday, July 27.
Sections 1A and 1B, totaling $102.6 million in construction costs, extend from where SR 429 currently ends at the Connector Road near U.S. Highway 441, to a new interchange at Kelly Park Road.
The five-mile stretch includes interchanges near U.S. 441 at Connector Road and Kelly Park Road, along with bridges at Southfork Drive, Yothers Road, Ponkan Road, and other locations.
The Parkway’s opening is “a huge day” for Apopka because of the economic development it would bring to the city, said Apopka Mayor Joe Kilsheimer, who attended the ceremony.
“We’re already seeing, as a result of the road being completed up to Kelly Park Road, a lot of interest in the whole Kelly Park DRI (development of regional impact),” he said. “Over the next two or three years, even before the whole parkway is built, it’s going to create a tremendous amount of economic development in Apopka.”
Area dignitaries who made remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony were Buddy Dyer, Orlando mayor and CFX Board chairman; Teresa Jacobs, Orange County mayor and CFX board member; Brenda Carey, Seminole County commissioner and CFX Board member; Sean Parks, Lake County commissioner and CFX Board member; and Lee Constantine, Seminole County commissioner.
The Wekiva Parkway project, which has been 30 years in the making, is expected to cut down on traffic congestion, improve mobility for commuters and travelers, and bring greater economic growth to the region, officials said.
“That’s something more our entire agency is particularly proud of, (which is) supporting local businesses and developing transportation and infrastructure,” Dyer said.
The Wekiva Parkway is a cooperative effort between the Florida Department of Transportation, (FDOT), the CFX, and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. When completed, the Parkway will continue north, then east from Kelly Park Road to Interstate 4 in the Sanford area.
A 3.14-mile leg of the Parkway is already open to traffic from County Road 435 in Orange County to State Road 46 in Lake County. The part between Kelly Park Road and County Road 435, as well as a spur that will go northwest to SR 46 in the Sorrento area, is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
The overall Wekiva Parkway is slated to be open to traffic by 2021.
The Parkway was designed with minimal impact to the Wekiva River Basin and the surrounding natural habitat. Parkway development included the purchase of more than 3,400 acres of land for conservation.
Environmental, development, and economic communities and political leadership collaborated to bring the Parkway to reality, officials said.
“It’s an incredibly precious corridor because it’s one the few times that you see government take care of both the drivers, the people – that environment, as well as the natural environment,” Jacobs said. “That was so important in this process.”
Constantine recalled his experience as the chair of the Wekiva River Basin Coordinating Committee, formed by then-Governor Jeb Bush.
Constantine read the names of the individuals who put together the committee’s 2004 final report, which included 17 recommendations that were signed into law in June 2004 as the Wekiva Parkway and Protection Act. The late John H. Land, longtime Apopka mayor, was a committee member.
“This is the most environmentally sensitive road ever built in Florida,” Constantine said. “In addition … this will complete the beltway around Central Florida. It’s so important for long-term viability and the future of this region.”
This story appears in the Friday, July 28, issue of The Apopka Chief. To find out more about what happened this week past week, pick up a copy of the newspaper at multiple locations in and around the Apopka area.
