Osceola Parkway, signed as County Road 522 (CR 522) since around 2003 (and originally planned as
State Road 424), is a , partially
tolled arterial road extending east–west across the northern boundary of
Osceola County, Florida
Osceola County (, ) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 388,656. Its county seat is Kissimmee. Osceola County is included in the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, F ...
, roughly paralleling the border with
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
. It connects
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
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.
Route description
The road starts at an intersection with an entrance road to the
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is an African-themed deluxe resort at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It opened on April 16, 2001. The resort is owned and operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
Disney's Animal Ki ...
in
Lake Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to:
Places Canada
* Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista”
*Buena Vista, Saskatchewan
*Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...
. For its westernmost , it has many characteristics of an at-grade boulevard; however, east of the entrance to
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...
, 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
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
, 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
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
). 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.
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
State Road 423 (SR 423), known for most of its length as John Young Parkway, and Lee Road east of Orange Blossom Trail, is a four- and six-lane surface road in the U.S. state of Florida. SR 423 runs from SR 408 north to U.S. Routes 17/ 92 (US ...
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.
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
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
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. During the early 1990s, Disney World and Osceola County officials extended and upgraded the road to its current 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.
A $19.2 million project has begun to widen of Osceola Parkway from two to four lanes between the intersections of Buenaventura Boulevard and Simpson Road from Myers Road to north of Osceola Parkway. The date of substantial completion for the second phase of work on the east-west road is April 1, 2015.
Future
The
Osceola County Expressway Authority
Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQ ...
is planning an easterly extension as part of the
Osceola County Beltway System. Following a 2012
feasibility study
A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...
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
The following highways are numbered 417:
Canada
* Manitoba Provincial Road 417
* Newfoundland and Labrador Route 417
* Ontario Highway 417
Costa Rica
* National Route 417
Iceland
* Route 417
Japan
* Japan National Route 417
United States
* ...
near
Orlando International Airport.
[Kimley-Horn and Associates]
Osceola Parkway Extension and Boggy Creek Road/SR 417 Access Road PD&E Study
(presentation), uploaded April 28, 2014
Major intersections
See also
*
*
References
External links
{{Commons category
Osceola County Online - Osceola Parkway*
ttp://www.osceola.org/files/Websites/OsceolaParkway/00006468_maps/OsceolaParkwayMap.pdf Osceola Parkway Mapbr>
Osceola Parkway Extension Project Development and Environment Study
Parkways in the United States
Toll roads in Florida
Walt Disney World
Roads in Osceola County, Florida
Non-freeway toll roads