ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A late Christmas present is coming to drivers in western Orange County behind Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
What You Need To Know
Widening Ficquette Road is expected to start in early 2026
With just two lanes for traffic, Ficquette Road backups are a daily issue for drivers
Behind the Magic Kingdom, Ficquette Road helps connect Horizon West to Windermere
Construction should take two years to complete
Widening Ficquette Road is expected to start in early 2026.
“It can just really bog down, and there’s no solution other than wait,” said Stephen Herron.
Herron, who goes by DJ Bubbles, started Florida Foam Factory four years ago.
While he’s based in the Hamlin/Independence area of west Orange County, Herron’s business is mobile.
“I spend more time in this van than I do probably blowing foam or bubbles or snow or anything,” he said.
With just two lanes for traffic, Ficquette Road backups are a daily issue for Herron.
“Right now, I’m accounting for extra setup time that’s not even going towards setting anything up,” Herron said. “It’s just realistically time spent in a vehicle waiting for a light to change, waiting for people to get off their phone and to drive.”
Behind the Magic Kingdom, Ficquette Road helps connect Horizon West to Windermere.
Orange County Public Works found the road carried about 17,000 vehicles a day in 2019.
Today, that number has grown to just over 22,000 vehicles per day.
In 20 years, more than 38,000 vehicles are projected to use this road.
That’s why in the first quarter of 2026, construction will begin to widen Ficquette Road from the Reams Road/Summerlake Park Boulevard intersection to near Ingelnook Drive.
“Having it be multiple lanes is going to help phenomenally,” said Herron. “It’s going to just really open things up.”
In addition to four lanes, a roundabout will replace the clogged Fiquette/Reams/Summerlake Park intersection.
“I’ve been stuck at that light in that intersection for 20-25 minutes before because it’s so backed up,” Herron said. “You’ve got people leaving Disney, you’ve got people coming home from work, you’ve got schools.”
More lanes mean less time in traffic for Herron, and more time making foam and snow.
“Right now, that traffic gets so backed up, and you almost have to give yourself an extra 15-20 minutes just in case that area is bad,” he said.
Besides widening Ficquette Road, the project also includes a raised grassed median, a shared-use trail on the west side of the road and a concrete sidewalk along the east side of the road.
Construction should take two years to complete.