New Expressway Would Link Lake Wales With Orlando Area

A proposed toll expressway linking Lake Wales to US 17-92 and indirectly to metro Orlando was the subject of a public presentation that brought plenty of critical questions and skepticism from the public but support from major land owners and development interests.

Courtesy Florida's Turnpike

The study area for the new expressway along the Lake Wales Ridge snakes from western to northern portions of Lake Wales before running east of other Ridge communities.

The Central Polk Parkway East is proposed to run from SR 60 on the west side of Lake Wales to connect to 17-92. A planned Poinciana Connector segment will link 17-92 directly to I-4. The route is seen as a way to alleviate traffic on the crowded, six-lane US 27 corridor.

The Florida Turnpike Authority is the lead agency on the proposed project, which has been discussed for more than two decades. The Turnpike Authority would also fund the project, recouping the cost through tolls.

The public meeting held January 14 shared four possible routes through Lake Wales, all beginning at SR 60 west of the city. Each of which would carry the roadway up the Ridge east of Dundee, Lake Hamilton, and Haines City as well as Davenport. As much as seven miles of the route would lie within the Lake Wales city limits.

The current study is intended to replace an earlier one that depicted a route that remained west of US 27 until a point north of Cypress Gardens Boulevard. That route is now largely filled with new developments due to a lack of comprehensive planning. Florida's former planning process was taken apart in a series of Legislative acts since 2000.

Courtesy Florida's Turnpike

The study area, outlined in white, encompasses the four route options being discussed.

A conceptual plan to add toll lanes to the existing US 27 as an alternative to the new expressway was rejected as infeasible.

All four newly-suggested routes begin just west of Lake Wales but only one intersects SR 60 outside the Lake Wales city limits, at a location just east of the SRX crossing. A second is closer, running through a portion of the recently annexed Lake Wales Commons property, planned to contain 3,200 residential units.

Two other proposed routes would require the interchange to be built across the intersections of Acuff Road and Bay Street, near Lake Wales Airport.

All four routes converge to cross US 27 at a point just south of Lowes.

Two of the routes, dubbed options C and D, then head east between Mountain Lake and Starr Lake. That possibility has drawn opposition from Bok Tower Gardens, a designated National Historic District which would end up no more than 2000 feet from the expressway.

"We are concerned of the impact that excessive road noise and lights would have on the Gardens," read a statement issued by BTG. "The Gardens was started in 1922 and dedicated in 1929 as a meditative garden and a nature sanctuary. We have worked to preserve the historic Olmsted design by protecting our viewshed through land purchases and preserving and restoring natural areas for wildlife."

"These two proposed routes (C&D) run down a documented panther and wildlife corridor that BTG has been working for twenty years to preserve (in cooperation with) with the Florida Communities Trust, Green Horizon Land Trust, Polk County Environmental Lands Program, and Mountain Lake Community," the statement continued.

Courtesy Florida's Turnpike

Potential connection points for a new interchange on SR 60 west of Lake Wales lie from a mile west of 27 US to as much as six miles. Teh routes pass through multiple areas proposed for housing developments.

Citing the plans to sustain a "Ridge to River Corridor," the BTG statement cites the area as habitat for endangered Florida panthers. Other potential environmental concerns include possible restrictions on controlled burns on a width swath of environmental lands east of the Ridge.

All four of the proposed routes cross a portion of the Peace Crossing project site on the west side of US 27, a "Master Planned" community under the Lake Wales zoning ordinance. That development is conceived to contain up to 6,100 homes along with a mix of industrial and commercial uses.

Lake Wales is dealing with enormous development pressure, with approximately 20,000 dwelling units proposed or already approved for construction. Similar pressures have impacted neighboring Lake Hamilton, where the population is expected to roughly double in two years. Dundee was forced to enact a one-year building moratorium due to a water shortage.

Development interests see the Lake Wales Ridge as fertile ground for houses, given the collapse of the citrus industry. Former growers have become land-sellers for sprawling new housing projects.

Developer David A. Waronker, who has multiple projects in Lake Wales including the 1,242-unit Hunt Club, told Lake Wales city commissioners that Lake Wales and Polk County will never be more than a bedroom community for Tampa and Orlando.

Expressway opponents cite the more-direct access to Orlando as a reason to oppose the project.

The northern end of the expressway would meet US 17-92 near Ernie Caldwell Boulevard just north of the town of Davenport. Ernie Caldwell Boulevard connects to US 27 at Posner Park, a few miles to the west.

Courtesy Florida's Turnpike

A summary of cultural resources in the Lake Wales area that may be impacted by the new expressway are shown on this map from Florida's Turnpike.

Environmental lands and potential wildlife-corridor properties around Lake Wales have come under immense pressure from development interests. The 5-R Ranch, a 4,158 acre tract lying south of Lake Wales Airport and west of US 27 was recently purchased by Richland Communities in a $50 million deal. That property is a mix of small lakes, wetlands, and flatwoods long used as pasture.

The Lake Wales Envisioned plan proposed the protection of two broad swaths of land east and west of the city to serve as wildlife habitat and recreation areas for the future. Although some progress has been made in obtaining properties east of the city, the west side remains vulnerable.

Public comment on the projects remain open for a few more days by visiting floridasturnpike.com/.