ORLANDO, Fla. – A long-awaited design for an expressway that aims to change how Osceola County travels is set to be revealed to the public next month. But environmentalists have major concerns about its proximity to the 11,500-acre Disney Wilderness Preserve and its potential impact on wildlife.
The proposed Southport Connector is a 15-mile tolled expressway in southern Osceola County extending from the Poinciana Parkway to Pleasant Hill Road and continuing east to Florida’s Turnpike. The Central Florida Expressway Authority’s plan for six elevated lanes built above and in between Cypress Parkway is nearly settled, but a preferred route for the portion just south of Lake Tohopekaliga and bordering the Disney preserve is still in the works.
County officials are eager to approve a path as the area continues to boom in population, with 17,000 homes already approved for an area just east of the Southport Connector, in master-planned community Waterlin…