SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Central Florida’s rapid growth is putting two neighboring counties at odds over plans to widen a key road near their shared border.
Orange County’s plans to widen McCulloch Road — a 1-mile stretch running from Lockwood Boulevard to North Tanner Road near the Orange and Seminole county line — have drawn pushback from Seminole County commissioners, who say they were left out of the conversation.
Commissioner Bob Dallari, who represents District 1 in Seminole County, said he had heard a little bit about the project through MetroPlan Orlando, and he attended a community meeting Orange County hosted earlier this year. But Dallari said Seminole County’s Commission was not made aware of the project in great detail.
“I thought it would be advantageous for this Board to hear that presentation publicly,” Dallari told News 6.
Seminole County’s Commission sent a letter to Orange County requesting more information about the plans for McCulloch Road, which resulted in staff giving a presentation to the Commission Tuesday.
Brian Sanders, chief planner of Orange County’s Transportation Planning Division, explained how both counties share interest in McCulloch Road’s future.
“This has been on our long range plan for a number of years,” Sanders said. “The 1.1-mile corridor study was kicked off in 2021.”
Both counties stand to benefit from the proposed project, which includes congestion relief and drainage system upgrades. Aerial images show just how dramatically the area has changed — from open land in 1958 to the addition of multiple subdivisions and UCF’s growing campus by 2025. Approximately 28,000 cars are estimated to travel through the corridor every day, according to data presented by Sanders.
Seminole County Public Works Director Tawny Olore acknowledged the “need” for improvements because of the traffic forecast.
“While we may have only 15-percent of the traffic, as our residents utilize this road they’re stuck in the traffic from either visitors or residents of Orange County,” Olore said.
Commissioner Dallari said the project has not been at the forefront for Seminole County.
“There’s really been, from our citizens standpoint, really no outcry to widen this road yet,” said Dallari.
Commissioner Jay Zembower, who represents District 2, questioned if widening McCulloch Road is the most effective way to address traffic concerns near the county line.
“This is a short gap fix for the bigger problem of moving east and west,” Zembower said.
Residents in both counties have also expressed concerns about the potenial for transportation projects like the widening of McCulloch to become a gateway towards development around the nearby Econlockhatchee River and the rural boundary.
“What is the potential of the state or someone else preempting us and making sure that we have to go over the river? Because we’re trying to protect the rural boundary of not just Seminole, but Orange County’s,” Dallari told News 6. “In order to develop that area, you would have to put a bridge in going over the river. So, that’s what we’re trying to make sure doesn’t happen.”
Representatives from Orange County also acknowledged the sensitivity of that area to land use changes, and agreed there is a strong consensus that McCulloch Road will not be extended east past North Tanner Road, where it currently comes to an end.
The $33 million project is still in the study phase, but Orange County is moving closer to design — and eventually right-of-way acquisition and construction. There is a Local Planning Agency Hearing scheduled for May 21st in Orange County, and then the McCulloch Road project will be back in front of Orange County’s Commission at a meeting in June.