ST. CLOUD, Fla. – Osceola County will hold a public hearing on the Project Development and Environment Study for the extension of Sunbridge Parkway in northeast Osceola County.
The in-person hearing will be on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the St. Cloud Community Center.
The purpose of the hearing is to allow the public to share their views on the location, conceptual design, and social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed improvements.
Sunbridge Parkway is planned as a major north-south divided corridor connecting Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (U.S. 192) in Osceola County to State Road 528 in Orange County.
The Sunbridge Parkway extension is expected to be a four-lane divided roadway accommodating motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists between U.S. 192 and Nova Rd. (County Road 532) in Osceola County.
Proposed improvements include roadway widening, enhanced access management, roundabouts to improve traffic flow and safety, wildlife crossings, and stormwater management facilities.
“The traffic has increased exponentially. Just getting out is a headache,” Beverley Howard said.
Beverley and Mike Howard have lived right off Nova Rd. for over 20 years and tell News 6 that traffic has increased over the last few years, and they anticipate it to get even worse when the new Osceola School District High School opens up. Because of the increase in cars, they are on board with the extension.
“When school starts, it’s going to it’s going to explode because it’s a high school and all the teenagers want a car,” Beverly said. "
The pair believes the extension would help alleviate traffic and cut down their travel time to Kissimmee.
“I agree. I think it needs to be done,” Howard said. “Traffic has just gotten too bad. It should reroute the traffic a bit.”
“Our doctors, a lot of them are in Kissimmee, and it makes it difficult. I’ve had to actually cancel a lot of my appointments just because of that,” Beverley added.
For more information on the public hearing, click here.