CLERMONT, Fla. – Nestled in the southern part of Lake County, Clermont offers a rare glimpse of rolling hills in an otherwise flat expanse of Florida.
Once known for its rural tranquility and citrus groves, the city of almost 50,000 residents has become a magnet for newcomers and travelers alike, bringing with it a serious challenge: traffic.
“I think we recognize that the traffic is, can be, very bad at times,” said Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks.
Parks, who represents District 2, which includes Minneola, Montverde, and Clermont, added, “It’s sort of also a mixed blessing because you get, what comes along with the growth – traffic is going to come along with that as well.”
Clermont — one of the fastest-growing regions in the state — and a lot of south Lake County is at a crossroads, both literally and figuratively.
State Road 50 runs east to west, intersecting with US 27, which is a major north/south route. These highways are more than local roads; they are part of a federal network meant to move large volumes of vehicles of all sizes, not just commuters.
“They’re both strategic intermodal systems, which is just a fancy way of saying they’re federal highways,” said Parks. “(SR) 50 and Highway 27 (are) designed to move a lot of traffic (and) a lot of freight.”
But residents of Clermont are not the only ones crowding Clermont’s roadways.
“There’s a lot of other people that are just going through Lake County as they’re going to some other part of Florida,” said Parks.
And this fact makes things even more hectic: the county estimates almost three-quarters of Clermont’s residents commute to work outside of the city.
“We know that about 70% of our population drives some other place to go to work,” Parks said.
He added: “That in itself is a huge problem.”
So what’s the solution?
Many people would think that if there are too many people on the roads, just widen the roads. But Parks says, not so fast.
“Widening the roads isn’t always the answer,” he told News 6. “First of all, it’s extremely expensive… sometimes $10 million per mile.”
Those costs may seem astronomical, but don’t blame the builders — blame inflation.
Parks said that among the factors contributing to the price increases are the cost of land acquisition and materials such as asphalt. Parks said prices for asphalt are up over 200% in the past few years.
To help ease the traffic crunch, city and county leaders believe they have a one-two punch solution: create alternative routes and reduce the number of daily trips by keeping residents local.
One major infrastructure project for creating an alternate route is the new SR 516, also known as the Lake/Orange Expressway.
“State Road 516...is probably within two to three years of being finished,” said Parks.
The new 4.4-mile toll road will connect the 429 with US 27. The road, the first of its kind in the country, will also serve as a testbed for electric in-vehicle charging.
Translation: your electric car will charge itself just by driving on the road.
Neat.
Also underway is Wellness Way, a development corridor designed with live-work-play concepts. “There could be up to $2 billion worth of increased value to our local economy when that project is built out,” Parks said.
In fact, Wellness Way is not only going to ease traffic but is also the lynchpin to the second strategy: creating employment centers to keep Clermont residents in Clermont.
“When you have work and employment centers that are planned for and on the map, so to speak, then you’re going to have less traffic,” Parks said. “Imagine reducing how many trips you take per day by 30% because you live close to something. You could walk or your drive time is shorter.”
Though construction of Wellness Way and the new SR 516 toll road are already underway, government officials know that those two projects just by themselves will not solve all of south Lake County’s traffic problems, mostly because solving problems takes money. Lots of it.
Parks says there’s a $710 million shortfall to upgrade roads all over Lake County, and that in the next six months, leaders from the county, Clermont, and other cities are going to discuss how to bridge the gap and fund some of these projects.
“Impact fees are definitely part of the equation, and we have them the highest we can make them right now in south Lake County,” Parks said.
Some other possible solutions include reallocating funds from the penny sales tax, using more money from property taxes, and the possibility of a higher gas tax.
“I’m a little surprised that Florida has grown the way it has, especially over the last few years,” Parks told News 6. “Back 20 years ago, it was a hard discussion to have. People had concerns back then about growth too, but we’re addressing it now… It’s better to do that than put our head in the sand and just hope for the best.”