ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – New pushback is happening against plans for a toll road through Split Oak Forest.
On Tuesday, a rally against the proposed State Road 534 was held ahead of Orange County’s first commission meeting of 2026.
District 5 Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad was among several who spoke against the project, which is set to be built between Orange and Osceola counties.
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“What they did not do is present the entire story of how a toll road going through one forest resulted in going through another green place land,” Martinez Semrad said.
[PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Expressway authority approves toll road through Split Oak Forest]
During Tuesday’s meeting, there was a scheduled discussion about right-of-way acquisition of GreenPLACE parcels from the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) and the road’s impact on Eagles Roost Park.
“It sets a really dangerous precedent for future conservation lands throughout the state,” conservation advocate Lee Perry said.
The Group “Save Split Oak Forest” is renewing a call for the county to take action against the toll road project.
While a state panel approved S.R. 534 last year to help with overcrowded roads, critics want to see commissioners withdraw the original application.
[PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Orange, Osceola attorneys battle over Split Oak Forest land]
“A highly invasive toll road is not under the state statute definition of a linear facility,” Perry said.
Opponents of the project have also asked the county to fight the use of eminent domain and file an injunction to stop Osceola County from entering new agreements with CFX.
Perry said the road could harm wildlife and open the area to urban sprawl.
“We need to have local control over our growth, and in order to do that, we need to stop bad decisions from our past,” Perry said.