Toll Road Connections, Sprawl and Diminishing Expectations

As the study of the eastern leg of the Central Polk Parkway grinds on to cut through still undeveloped sections of eastern Polk County, new revelations are emerging.
The most obvious change is the plan to move the preferred route farther east of U.S. 27, which puts it at the edge of the conservation lands in the Marion Creek Basin, which is part of the headwaters of the Everglades.
It is worth pointing out for those who arrived recently that the one of the prime movers for the preservation of the Marion Creek Basin was the late County Commissioner Ernie Caldwell.
Another, which was disclosed at Thursday’s Transportation Organization meeting, involves what appear to be plans to extend Bates Road and Ernie Caldwell Boulevard eastward to lure motorists to the planned toll road since its more remote route seems less likely to attract motorists otherwise.
That would open more land for development, which raises the issue about this entire network about how much of this is about genuine transportation needs and how much is simply part of the economic development community’s wish list.
Polk TPO officials also called the still unfunded Southport Connector that would link Poinciana to Florida’s Turnpike as an economic development “game changer,” which was revealing as well.
That matches long-term economic development dreams that date to the 1920s for a “Road to the East.”
But that’s not all, folks.
There is a proposal to extend Kathleen Road northward to link directly to U.S, 98 and a proposal to build a new road somewhere north of U.S. 192 between U.S. 27 and Stater Road 429, a toll road that loops around the west side of Orlando.
It never ends, it seems.