OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County Transportation officials are conducting a study to potentially add bike lanes, on-street parking, sidewalks, a median and other changes to Lake Tohopekaliga Road to plan for two new subdivisions and an addition of 4,800 homes to the area.

What You Need To Know

Transportation officials are conducting a project development and environment study on Lake Tohopekaliga Road in Osceola County, and two community meetings were held this week. 

The study is Phase 2 of a proposal to add a median, bike lanes, sidewalks and other additions to the road in preparation for more residents in this section of the county.

Some current Lake Toho Road residents have expressed their disapproval of the proposed changes. 

The public can comment and share their opinions on the project online until March 19. 

Phase 2 of the project, the project development and environment study, is underway. If approved, the project would entail enhancing Lake Toho Road from Kissimmee Park Road to Boulevard B. The public had two opportunities this week to learn about these proposed changes during community meetings.

Community members can share their feedback with the county up until March 19.

The entire project is slated to cost $17.4 million. The study is set to be completed by this summer.

Jennnifer Stults is the director of transportation planning for the county.

“It’s a short segment. It’s about three quarters of a mile. So just a little bit under a mile long,” Stults said. “It’s basically to look at some safety enhancements like medians, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, things like that. So, as part of that, as the area develops, we anticipate that there may be a need for signals going forward.”

Stults cited safety being one of the major factors for considering a study, stating that if there will be an addition of 4,800 homes here due to Whaley Platt and Bella Tara Developments, there must be better infrastructure.

“The county has adopted a Vision Zero policy. As part of that, we have a Vision Zero action plan. The goal is zero deaths and major injuries from these and, you know, the bicyclists and pedestrians are our most vulnerable users,” Stults said.

“So, we really do want to protect them. There is a lot of data out there on the county that’s been done by the county and also by partners like Metro Plan Orlando to look at where are those incidents, whereas they call it a high-injury network, where are those incidents and accidents taking place most commonly,” she said.

Several Lake Toho Road residents, many who have lived on the road for generations, are against the proposed changes. Janine Wooten and Ina Rohde said the construction and influx in population will entirely disrupt their lives and the currently quiet road they live on.

“We moved back to take care of my mom, who’s 93. She’s living on the property, and she was born on that property. So, this is part of, you know, why we’re kind of emotional about what’s going on because the family has been on this property,” Wooten said. “We’ve owned it since 1912, I believe.”

Wooten said she and other residents feel their voices have not been heard, or in the long run, will not be considered when it comes to development in the county.

“It’s just really sad for us to see, and we feel like the number of families that live down. There is so few there, just so few dissenting voices that we really don’t have a say in what’s happening,” Wooten said. “We want the land to be respected and the families to be respected, and we don’t feel like either of those things are taking place.”

The study alone costs $172,000. Stults said it’s a shared cost between the county and the developers, though the transportation and planning department won’t get funding from either the county, through grants, or from the developers until they are granted full approval, in a later phase of the project.

The entire project, if approved, is set to be finished in 2030.