ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A battle to protect a local forest from construction is heating up, despite Osceola County leaders signing off on plans with the Central Florida Expressway and Florida Fish and Wildlife to put a toll road through Split Oak Forest.
While construction is solely in Osceola County, one Orange County leader is trying to get her commission to look closer at the development plan.
The toll road would connect State Road 417 near Boggy Creek in Orange County to Cyrils Drive in Osceola County — a route that requires the road to be built through a section of the forest.
In 2024, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted 6-1 to accepting a deal to build a toll road through Split Oak Forest.
Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad says the problem is that Orange County has a joint ownership of the forest with Osceola County.
And though the development agreement that was signed back in January, it would go strictly through Osceola County.
Opponents say Orange County voters who chose to protect the forest back in 2020 should also have a say in this move and that this agreement goes against its intended purpose to conserve land and protect endangered species.
“I would like to see Orange County stand up for their obligation from the voters who voted back in 2020 to protect the forest; 86% of them said, ‘Hey Orange County, we don’t want you to do anything else to harm the forest. We want this forest protected and we know that you are contractually married with Osceola County and FWC,’” said President of “Friends of Split Oak Forest,” Valerie Anderson.
As it stands right now, the toll road project is set to move forward.
Semrad says there was still ongoing litigation between the two counties, and this is why she is bringing the item forward at Tuesday’s county commission meeting.
According to the CFW’s website, the Osceola Parkway Extension is part of a solution to enhance mobility for the area’s fast-growing population.
The Orange County Commission meeting will begin at 9 a.m.
