Florida Construction News staff writer
The Central Florida Expressway Authority has approved a $4.46 billion five-year work plan that includes new expressway connections, highway widening projects and safety improvements while also launching a long-range planning effort to guide transportation investments through 2055.
The Fiscal Year 2027-2031 Five-Year Work Plan, approved by the CFX board on June 11, allocates funding for projects aimed at improving mobility, reducing congestion and enhancing safety across Central Florida’s growing transportation network.
The plan includes 22 miles of expressway widening projects designed to improve traffic flow along several heavily traveled corridors, including State Roads 408, 417, 429 and 528.
CFX also plans to add about 25 miles of new expressway connections through five major expansion projects: the SR 516 Lake/Orange Expressway, SR 534 Phases I, II and III, the SR 538 Poinciana Parkway Extension, the SR 414 Expressway Extension and the SR 452 Seminole Connector.
In addition to expansion and capacity projects, the work plan includes investments in safety and technology initiatives. Those projects include completing CFX’s Wrong Way Driver Detection system at existing off-ramp locations and resurfacing approximately 58 miles of roadway.
At the same meeting, CFX announced it will begin developing its 2055 Master Plan, a long-range planning effort that will help shape the agency’s strategic direction and investment priorities for the next quarter century.
The master plan serves as a framework for future five-year work plans by identifying regional transportation needs, evaluating emerging trends and establishing priorities for future capital investments and operations.
The planning process is expected to take about two years and will begin with a listening tour across CFX’s five-county service area, which includes Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
During the outreach effort, CFX will seek input from local government officials, transportation planners and community stakeholders on existing transportation needs, potential expansion projects, emerging transportation markets and new technologies related to operations and toll collection.
“The expressway system drivers experience today is the result of more than half a century of regional planning that considered the needs of Central Florida as a whole,” CFX Chairman and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement. “The 2055 Master Plan is preparing us for the future, and that starts with listening and understanding what our region may need.”
According to CFX, several projects now included in the agency’s five-year work plan originated through recommendations made during previous master planning efforts.
“The projects under construction today started as ideas that came from our communities,” CFX Executive Director Michelle Maikisch said. “The governance of our board and our previous master plans demonstrate that listening to those we serve can lead to a system that meets the needs of our region.
“The 2055 Master Plan process will give us the same strategic roadmap for decades to come.”
Input gathered during the listening tour will be incorporated into the final master plan, which is expected to guide transportation planning and investment decisions through 2055.
