Osceola Parkway
Osceola Parkway, signed as County Road 522 (CR 522) since around 2003 (and originally planned as State Road 424), is a 17.5-mile-long (28.2 km), partially tolled arterial road extending east–west across the northern boundary of Osceola County, Florida, roughly paralleling the border with Orange County. It connects Walt Disney World with Interstate 4 and Florida's Turnpike before terminating at Simpson Road (formerly Boggy Creek Road) near Buenaventura Lakes, and is maintained by Osceola County. Only the section between the Southern Connector and a toll plaza east of Shingle Creek is tolled; the rest includes mainly at-grade intersections. A portion of the Osceola Parkway was once called Dart Boulevard.
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| Osceola Parkway | ||||
Osceola Parkway highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Osceola County Public Works Department | ||||
| Length | 18.7 mi[1] (30.1 km) | |||
| Existed | June 16, 1987 (original road) August 18, 1995 (toll road)–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge in Bay Lake | |||
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| East end |  | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties | Osceola | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| County roads in Florida County roads in Osceola County
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Route description
The road starts at an intersection with an entrance road to the Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge in Lake Buena Vista. For its westernmost 0.4 miles (0.64 km), it has many characteristics of an at-grade boulevard; however, east of the entrance to Disney's Animal Kingdom, it becomes a grade-separated expressway. Heading east, the parkway passes through several sections of the Disney World Complex before intersecting with World Drive and crossing into Osceola County. The parkway exits Walt Disney World, just before an interchange with I-4. Although Osceola Parkway was built across I-4 into Walt Disney World, an interchange with that freeway (Exit 65) did not open until 2001. The ramps with the exit to nearby SR 536 are interspersed such that traffic going on to I-4 from SR 536 cannot directly exit onto Osceola Parkway, and vice versa. The road then has an interchange with SR 417 (Southern Connector), where the Parkway becomes a limited access toll road (although not a full expressway). The parkway passes through residential areas, passing through an interchange with Poinciana Blvd., featuring ramp tolls of $1.00 for eastbound exiting traffic and westbound entering traffic. East of the interchange, Osceola Parkway crosses the one mainline toll plaza just east of Shingle Creek, with a $2.00 toll as of January 2020.[2]
East of the toll plaza, the tolled section of the parkway ends as it becomes a surface street, as it continues to pass through residential and shopping areas with at grade intersections, most notably with John Young Parkway and US 17/US 92/US 441 (Orange Blossom Trail) as the road heads towards Florida's Turnpike. East of the Turnpike, the road continues as a four lane street through another residential development until its terminus at Simpson Road, near Buenaventura Lakes. Simpson Road was known as Boggy Creek Road until September 2014, which removed the unusual situation of having a three way intersection with all three roads having the same name.[3]
The Parkway originally used an electronic toll collection system known as O-PASS, however the county elected to discontinue its own toll collection program and instead contracted with the Orlando–Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) to provide that service, so the O-PASS system was merged with the E-PASS system. The Osceola Parkway also accepts SunPass accounts which are run by the Florida Department of Transportation and are accepted on most toll roads throughout the State of Florida.
History
The road originally opened as Dart Boulevard on June 16, 1987 as a two-mile stretch between U.S. Highway 441 and Buenaventura Boulevard.[4] During the early 1990s, Disney World and Osceola County officials extended and upgraded the road to its current 12.4 miles (20.0 km) parkway form, widened the lanes from two to four and added an interchange with Florida's Turnpike, with the highway opening on August 18, 1995.[5][6][7]
A $19.2 million project has begun to widen 2.66 miles (4.28 km) of Osceola Parkway from two to four lanes between the intersections of Buenaventura Boulevard and Simpson Road from Myers Road to 600 feet (180 m) north of Osceola Parkway. The date of substantial completion for the second phase of work on the east-west road is April 1, 2015.[8][9]
Future
The Osceola County Expressway Authority is planning an easterly extension as part of the Osceola County Beltway System. Following a 2012 feasibility study and a March 2013 public meeting, the project team decided on an alignment along the county line, either leaving the current roadway east of Windy Cove Drive (Bridgewater subdivision) or following the current roadway to its end at Simpson Road and curving northeast there. A spur would extend north to SR 417 near Orlando International Airport.[10]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | Bay Lake | 0.0 | 0.0 | Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge | |
| 0.4 | 0.64 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | Interchange | ||
| 1.4 | 2.3 |  | Interchange with Buena Vista Drive | ||
| 2.2 | 3.5 |  | Interchange with World Drive; I-4 not signed eastbound | ||
| 3.0 | 4.8 | Victory Way – ESPN Wide World of Sports, Disney's Hollywood Studios | Interchange | ||
| Osceola | | 4.1 | 6.6 | | Exit 65 on I-4 (SR 400); western terminus of CR 522 |
| 4.8 | 7.7 | | |||
| 5.2 | 8.4 |  | Exit 3 on SR 417 (Central Florida GreeneWay) | ||
| 7.3 | 11.7 |  | Tolled eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| Kissimmee | 10.0 | 16.1 | Shingle Creek Toll Plaza | ||
| 11.4 | 18.3 |  | Interchange; western terminus of US 17 Truck / US 92 Truck overlap | ||
| 12.4 | 20.0 | | Termini of US 17 Truck / US 92 Truck | ||
| 12.8 | 20.6 | Old Dixie Highway (CR 527 south) | |||
| 13.1 | 21.1 | Orange Avenue (CR 527 north) | |||
| 13.5 | 21.7 | Michigan Avenue (CR 531 south) | Northern terminus of CR 531 | ||
| Kissimmee–Buenaventura Lakes line | 13.9 | 22.4 | | Exit 249 on Florida's Turnpike (SR 91) | |
| | 17.5 | 28.2 | Simpson Road (CR 530 west) | Western terminus of CR 530 concurrency | |
| Osceola–Orange county line | | 18.7 | 30.1 |  | CR 530 continues east |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
References
- Google (June 15, 2019). "Osceola Parkway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- "25-cent toll hike on Osceola Parkway". Orlando Business Journal. March 27, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- "Boggy Creek Road Name Changes Are Official". Osceola County Florida.
- Flowers, Shanna (June 12, 1987). "New Road May Spur Growth Dart Boulevard Interchange on Florida's Turnpike Could Lure Industry". Orlando Sentinel. p. O3.
- Lebowitz, Lawrence J. (October 2, 1990). "Disney Helps Map Osceola Road Deal". Orlando Sentinel. p. A1.
- Owens, Darryl E. (July 18, 1993). "Caution: Construction Ahead on the Turnpike Workers Will Add an Interchange on Florida's Turnpike to Relieve Congestion on Osceola Parkway". Orlando Sentinel. p. K3.
- "Parkway Pointers". Orlando Sentinel. July 22, 1995. p. 1.
- Barth, Cindy (24 May 2013). "Osceola Parkway widening to start this summer". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- Osceola County Florida http://www.osceola.org/public_works/226-3915-3921/osceola_parkway.cfm. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - Kimley-Horn and Associates, Osceola Parkway Extension and Boggy Creek Road/SR 417 Access Road PD&E Study (presentation), uploaded April 28, 2014
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osceola Parkway. |