It comes with the territory. If you live in East Orlando, odds are you use toll roads quite often. In fact, SR 408 and SR 417 are some of the busiest roads in Central Florida, with SR 408 ranking second in overall traffic, behind only I-4. Recently, several new interchanges opened on SR 417 in the Lake Nona area, but what about Road “E,” and what major project is next for the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA)?

This past December, two new, complete interchanges opened on SR 417 in the Lake Nona area. The  Moss Park and Innovation Way exits were designed and built to ease traffic on the already busy Narcoossee Road area, as well as accommodate future growth in the region. The interchanges, each funded entirely by toll money, took about a year and a half to build, costing $18.4 million and $14.7 million, respectively in construction costs alone.

“Narcoossee Road has become very well-known for backups, and so we hope that opening the two exits is certainly going to take away some of the traffic and reduce delays while improving ridership on our system,” says Brian Hutchings, public information officer for OOCEA.

Currently, the Moss Park section of SR 417 sees more than 35,000 vehicles travel the area every day. According to OOCEA projections, that traffic volume will increase to 124,400 by 2030.

Still, some residents feel that there are other areas of highway that should have received the attention first. “I’m glad they reduced traffic there, but there are so many other parts of the 408 and 417 that are backed up and used a lot more. I want less congestion, too,” says East Orlando resident Jessica Burnett.

“These interchanges were built now to accommodate future growth and to go along with the Southeast Orange County area really taking off,” says Hutchings. “They were actually prioritized over some other projects, because the timing was right and the need was fairly great.”

On the east side of town, much commotion has been made over Road “E” - a temporary road that will connect South Alafaya Trail to an existing interchange at International Corporate Park - and the road construction visible from Alafaya beginning at Curry Ford Road. This construction, often confused with the road widening, is actually for an Orlando Utilities Corporation power transmission line project.

The Alafaya Trail widening project, which will change the roadway from two lanes to four lanes, is currently in its final stage of design and is scheduled to be completed in April 2010. But, construction will not begin until July of this year, according to the Orange County Roadway Capital Improvement Program Report for February 2010. The project will be completed around two years after breaking ground, the report said.

As for Road “E,” the road is expected to officially open for travel in May of this year, a sign of relief for residents. “It’s about time we have a connection we were promised,” says Steve Krocmel, an Avalon Park resident. “We’ve been told so many different things, it’s nice to have something coming to help, no matter what it is.”

But what about the interchange that was proposed years ago that connects directly to SR 528? According to Hutchings, OOCEA already has the interchange designed and plans to build the interchange - eventually. “Right now we can’t afford to build the interchange there and not have it connect to anything - that would drive those people out there even more crazy,” he says. “There’s a missing link that needs to get built between the interchange that we would build and a connecting through road.”

Currently, the county is working with local land developers to help build that link. “We don’t want to be accused of building the ‘interchange to nowhere,’” Hutchings says.

The next large-scale project for OOCEA involves an overhaul of the current SR 408/SR 417 interchange that bogs traffic down for miles every weekday morning. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and last approximately two years. “This interchange is one of the critical pieces for overall road improvement,” says Hutchings. “It’s going to be a tremendous difference once it’s complete.”

Article by Corey Gehrold