{"id":153389,"date":"2026-02-12T19:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153389\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T19:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:38:11","slug":"cfx-frustrated-by-orange-countys-frivolous-fight-over-split-oak-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153389\/","title":{"rendered":"CFX frustrated by Orange County\u2019s \u2018frivolous\u2019 fight over Split Oak \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A war of words broke out on the Central Florida Expressway Authority board at its first meeting since Orange County\u2019s<\/a> decision<\/a> to resist the agency\u2019s latest efforts to build a controversial toll road through the Split Oak Forest.<\/p>\n

Christopher Maier, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at Thursday\u2019s meeting it was \u201cfrustrating\u201d for the county to refuse to sell the road agency additional environmentally sensitive land it now says it needs for the Osceola Parkway extension.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a bit frivolous and costly to come after us at this point,\u201d Maier said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a slippery slope and I\u2019m very disappointed in the actions of our county commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Orange County Commission decided on a 4-3 vote last month to continue its long fight against the Split Oak cut-through, approved by the state in 2024, even though its attorneys have said there is no longer a realistic hope of stopping the road. Specifically, the county rejected CFX\u2019s $2.39 million offer for 24.5 acres of county-owned land adjacent to Split Oak Forest it deems \u201cnecessary\u201d for the toll road.<\/p>\n

The land includes a piece of the 232-acre Eagles Roost Park, bought with taxpayer funds and home to the wildlife refuge Back to Nature. CFX is now expected to sue to get the land through eminent domain proceedings, although it has not yet voted to do so and Thursday\u2019s discussion ended with no decision.<\/p>\n

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who represents the county on the CFX board, defended his commission\u2019s resistance as the will of the people \u2014 even though Demings himself was one of the three commission members to vote against fighting CFX.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little troubled by your comments,\u201d Demings said to Maier. \u201cWhile I don\u2019t always agree with 100% of the members of our Board of County Commissioners and their beliefs, they are a compassionate group of individuals who believe in the power of the people and not necessarily of the people in power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demings went on to say he didn\u2019t believe the CFX board should \u201ctake a position\u201d and \u201ccriticize another board who believe, overwhelmingly, that they were doing what was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also pointed out Maier\u2019s position as a DeSantis pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was duly elected by the people,\u201d Demings said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t appointed by the governor. My actions are based on what the people in Orange County say.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Maier argued CFX has given residents multiple opportunities for input over the years. He added that expensive litigation may also impact other necessary projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cLawsuits cost money for both sides,\u201d Maier said. \u201cEvery delay that potentially happens on a project, cost of construction goes up. That means it\u2019s going to cost us more to finish this project and that also means that potentially other projects have to be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 14-mile toll road is already in the design process and set to begin construction in early 2027. A 1.3-mile section of the project lies within the protected forest and is set to have three designated wildlife crossing bridges.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of a larger project called the Southern Beltway, a 60-plus-mile continuous highway loop that would connect Osceola County to other important thoroughfares across the region. CFX argues the project is necessary to take pressure off of traffic-laden Narcoossee Road and accommodate future growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth has moved faster than the transportation network,\u201d said Glenn Pressimone, chief of infrastructure at CFX. \u201cThis is exactly where State Road 534 plays a role, rather than continuing to push more traffic onto already maxed out arterial roads \u2026 it\u2019s about giving the regional system another outlet so local roads can function the way they were intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday the board also unanimously approved the $200 million-plus, two\u2013lane toll road that will connect State Road 417 and the Orlando Sanford International Airport. The approval included an agreement that Seminole County will contribute $50 million toward the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A war of words broke out on the Central Florida Expressway Authority board at its first meeting since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1563,28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109,1798],"class_list":{"0":"post-153389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orange-county","14":"tag-orlando","15":"tag-orlando-headlines","16":"tag-orlando-news","17":"tag-social","18":"tag-transportation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}