Why is the Southport Connector Expressway being planned?
Straddling both counties is the Poinciana community – home to more than 70,000 people – and growing. The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is working in coordination and in partnership with leaders in both counties on solutions to current traffic congestion, as well as to accommodate the thousands more people expected to call this part of the region home in the coming years.
Traffic increased by 25 percent along Cypress Parkway from 2019 to 2024 and is projected to increase another 40 percent by 2050. Osceola County alone is reviewing plans from developers to build at least 11,000 more homes east of Lake Toho in the coming years.
What is the Southport Connector Expressway? Where would it go and how would it fit in with other planned roadway improvements in the area?
CFX’s goal is to Move Poinciana with enhancements to local infrastructure alongside the proposed 15-mile Southport Connector Expressway. The Preferred Alternative for the Southport Connector Expressway extends from the Poinciana Parkway to the east within the Cypress Parkway median to Pleasant Hill Road. From there the expressway would continue east south of Lake Toho on a new alignment to Florida’s Turnpike and Canoe Creek Road. Local travel enhancements would include widening Cypress Parkway to six lanes, widening side streets at Cypress Parkway and making other intersection upgrades in eight locations and building multi-use trails on both sides of the roadway.
The Southport Connector Expressway – in conjunction with the Poinciana Parkway – is part of a broader, regional network of planned expressways that would support the area’s continuing growth while allowing improved access to major roads such as Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 4. The Southport Connector would join new roadways – the Poinciana Parkway Extension, State Road 515 (Northeast Connector Expressway) and State Road 534 – to form a 50-plus-mile beltway through Osceola County.
What is the status of the PD&E Study?
On December 11, 2025, the CFX Governing Board approved the Preferred Alternative for the Southport Connector Expressway Project Development & Environment (PD&E) Study. Documents are being finalized to close out the PD&E Study and final versions will be available on the MovePoincinana.com and AvanzaPoinciana.com websites by March 2026. CFX is looking at phasing scenarios and working to identify funding partners to increase financial viability of the project to move forward to design and construction.
Are the PD&E Study findings available to the public?
Yes. Study documentation of CFX’s evaluation of the potential social, cultural, natural and physical impacts and benefits of the Southport Connector Expressway are available by visiting MovePoinciana.com and AvanzaPoinciana.com, clicking on the Resources tab, and then clicking on the Documents button.
How will CFX address concerns about potential impacts to the community and the environment from the Southport Connector Expressway?
State, regional and local agencies acknowledge that making major, needed transportation improvements can present challenges and have impacts on the community.
CFX during the PD&E Study identified, evaluated and documented potential social, cultural, natural and physical impacts. The study also developed strategies to minimize and/or mitigate those impacts. That includes considering and developing strategies for addressing potential residential, business or wetland impacts, as well as temporary impacts from construction.
How will the Southport Connector Expressway help relieve local traffic congestion?
The Southport Connector Expressway will include improvements to make local travel easier – even benefiting those who do not use the planned tolled road. As part of this project CFX will widen Cypress Parkway, which would remain non-tolled, to six lanes. Eight side streets at Cypress Parkway will be widened and the intersections otherwise upgraded.
Currently Cypress Parkway traffic operates at an unacceptable Level of Service F – with long delays and queues. The planned local road improvements will increase traffic capacity on Cypress Parkway by more than 50 percent, alleviating congestion and restoring operations to an acceptable Level of Service D or better (short or moderate delays) through the year 2050.
Commuters and others making longer distance trips are expected to use the elevated expressway, thereby taking traffic off the local road.
Will CFX build walls to protect communities from noise from the expressway and widened Cypress Parkway?
CFX conducted a noise evaluation and produced a Noise Study Report that is available on the MovePoinciana.com and AvanzaPoinciana.com Resources pages under Documents. The Noise Study followed federal criteria to determine potential noise impacts to the community and possible ways to address it. The study looked at potential noise impacts and abatement along both the local road and the elevated expressway. Potential noise wall locations can be seen on the Concept Plans by clicking the Maps and Renderings button on the Resources pages of the project websites. Potential noise impacts and mitigation measures also will be re-assessed during the design phase.
How would the Southport Connector Expressway benefit the community?
Transportation improvements, once completed, in general have positive social and economic benefits by providing more travel choices, increased roadway capacity, enhanced mobility, and improved access to adjacent land uses and community facilities.
The expressway and local road improvements would result in more reliable travel times – being able to reliably get to work, school or medical and other appointments on time. Free-flowing traffic would improve emergency response times, as well as reduce the risk of vehicle collisions that commonly occur in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A multi-use trail will be built along Cypress Parkway to enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety.
Those who do not choose to use the expressway will also benefit – from reduced congestion on Cypress Parkway from local road improvements increasing capacity by more than 50 percent. Diverting traffic to the proposed Southport Connector Expressway could also help alleviate congestion on other local roadways, thereby benefiting residents who may not use the expressway.
How does CFX plan to address concerns about potential impacts to businesses from the new expressway?
We understand that proposed major transportation improvements can cause uncertainty among community members – including business owners. The PD&E Study evaluated social, cultural, natural and physical impacts and also looked at ways to minimize or mitigate those impacts. For example, ramps proposed earlier in the study near Pleasant Hill Road were removed due to the anticipated, significant direct right-of-way impacts to adjacent businesses as well as for operational reasons.
CFX works with businesses whose property would be directly impacted by the project, to help mitigate those impacts. CFX staff has met with the Bravo Supermarket owners, for example, in this regard.
Will the Southport Connector Expressway provide any economic benefits to the community? If so, what would those be?
With more reliable travel times, employers would see reduced lost productivity from late employees or delayed deliveries. Customers will be on time for appointments. Businesses will have less difficulty recruiting staff if folks know they’ll have an easier commute. Job seekers will have a broader area to search for employment with travel options that shorten commute times.
From an economic development standpoint, improved roadway infrastructure and access to major travel corridors (such as I-4 and the Turnpike) are among the requirements for major companies looking to relocate to an area.
How could my business directly benefit from this project?
When the project moves forward to construction, firms hired by CFX to build the improvements will need workers, goods, materials and services. CFX provides many fair and competitive opportunities for doing business with the agency as part of improving and expanding our expressway system. Opportunities are available for prime contractors, subcontractors, vendors, engineering consultants and subconsultants – just to name a few. The agency needs an array of goods and services for these projects – from surveying to sod, landscaping and fencing. To find out how your company might be able to participate in the CFX Procurement process for goods and services, visit www.cfxway.com/doing-business/procurement.
Also, once construction begins, project crews tend to patronize local businesses, adding money back into the local economy.
How many people are expected to use the Southport Connector Expressway? How many of those are expected to be local residents?
The 2050 design year projected daily traffic on Southport Connector Expressway is 62,000 vehicles per day between the proposed ramps west of Cypress Dr and Old Pleasant Hill Rd. Detailed traffic data and analysis are documented in the Project Traffic Analysis Report (PTAR) available on MovePoinciana.com and AvanzaPoinciana.com. Traffic forecasting is based on the Florida Department of Transportation’s Central Florida Regional Planning Model (CFRPM), which takes into consideration many factors including planned developments data.
Overall, the majority (approximately two thirds) of the traffic projected to use the expressway is expected to be local residents entering and exiting the expressway at different locations.
Where will people have to pay a toll on the expressway and how much will it cost?
The Preferred Alternative includes the location of ramp and mainline gantries to collect tolls electronically. You may view tolling locations on the Preferred Alternative Concept Plans and by watching the animated visualization on the Maps & Renderings section of the Resources pages on MovePoinciana.com and AvanzaPoinciana.com. Toll costs will be determined when the project moves into the design phase.
What will the posted speed limit be on Cypress Parkway when the expressway is built?
As part of the Southport Connector Expressway and widening of Cypress Parkway, the expected speed limit along Cypress Parkway will be 35 MPH.
How will CFX build the expressway to avoid making an already bad traffic situation worse?
We recognize that building major transportation improvements presents challenges to communities. When the Southport Connector Expressway moves into design, CFX will consider different phasing and other options to try to minimize impacts to the community. One possible option could be to build the east end of the expressway coming from the Turnpike to Pleasant Hill Road, as well as the Cypress Parkway improvements first. This would provide congestion relief for the community, provide another way out of Poinciana via the direct connection to the Turnpike, and create room to build the expressway along the Cypress Parkway median. CFX will provide community members with advanced notification of major impacts and work to minimize impacts to the extent possible, understanding that some construction impacts will be unavoidable.
Now that the project is approved, how long before it moves forward into design and construction? How long before construction would be completed?
The CFX Governing Board approved the Preferred Alternative on December 11, 2025. The agency is looking at phasing scenarios and working to identify funding partners to increase financial viability to enable the project to move forward to design and construction. CFX hopes to have more information on the project schedule when the next Five-Year Work Plan is considered in the summer of 2026.
Once funding is programmed for the improvements, it will take several years to move through design, permitting, right-of-way acquisition and then construction. That’s why projects of this magnitude could take as long as seven to 10 years from the completion of the study to be open to traffic.
How would CFX address property owner concerns about possible vibration damage during construction?
The PD&E study documented the need to monitor and minimize vibration during construction. When the project moves forward, concerns related to vibration would be addressed further in design and construction. CFX also follows established best practices to minimize vibration, such as not allowing contractors to use vibratory rollers for compacting materials in the roadway.
How would CFX address homelessness or graffiti with the bridged sections of the expressway along Cypress Parkway?
We have heard community concerns – including from law enforcement – about possible negative activity related to the bridged section along Cypress Parkway. CFX engages in world-class maintenance practices to address graffiti and other concerns on our system.
We’ve also received interest from some residents for consideration of possible passive recreation or art installations under the bridges, something that could be considered with county leaders when the project moves into the design phase. Other ideas have included possibly putting a law enforcement substation under the bridges.
Will there be landscaping as part of the project? If so, who would maintain it?
CFX is prepared to invest in a robust landscaping plan for the corridor. CFX takes great pride in ensuring the landscaping along its current 125-mile system is appealing to our neighbors and complements the surroundings. Landscaping would be a separate project after the major construction is completed; landscaping design would be coordinated with the counties and adjacent communities.
We have been made aware of previous agreements between the counties, the Association of Poinciana Villages and the Solivita community regarding landscaping and maintenance along Cypress Parkway. Any future landscaping and maintenance agreements would be coordinated by CFX with these parties.
How would I find out if my property might be affected or needed for this project?
The PD&E Study evaluated general right-of-way impacts; in most cases, only slivers of right of way will be needed, with no residences along Cypress Parkway being proposed for acquisition. More right of way would be required at several business locations including at Pleasant Hill Road. CFX will continue coordinating with potentially affected business owners in those locations. For the expressway east of Pleasant Hill Road, as this will be a new roadway facility, additional right of way will be required.
Once the project moves into design, CFX will look in more detail at specific right of way impacts. Right-of-way acquisition occurs after the design phase is well underway. To learn more about CFX’s policy on right-of-way acquisition visit the CFX website at this link: click here.
How will this project affect the value of my property?
Traffic congestion is negatively affecting the quality of life in Poinciana. That could include the ability to sell a home due to the time it takes to travel the area. Typically, during construction, homeowners may be challenged in trying to sell a home. But once the transportation infrastructure improvements are made – and people are able to get to and from their destinations more quickly and easily – then having travel options and better access are seen as a benefit and, overall, property values typically are maintained or increase.
How can I find out more about the Southport Connector Expressway?
As the project moves toward design and construction, CFX will continue to provide opportunities for community members to learn about project details, benefits and schedules. You can view the latest study presentations, video and exhibits at MovePoinciana.com (and in Spanish at AvanzaPoinciana.com). For questions, please contact us at ProjectStudies@CFXway.com.