The lower southern portion of Split Oak Forest will be impacted due to the Osceola Parkway Extension that was passed by the Central Florida Expressway Authority Committee at their meeting on Dec. 12.  

The Osceola Parkway Extension meeting determined the path for the project, which was unanimously decided to be the minimization alternative route. The road will be built through 160 acres of Split Oak Forest on the lower side, much less impact than previous route designs that would have gone through the middle of Split Oak Forest, dividing it into two sections.  

The meeting drew harsh divides between community members looking to minimize the environmental impact and those supporting the Osceola Parkway Extension. The first 15 minutes of the meeting were designated to public comments; however, over 40 people showed up to state their opinions in front of the committee board, who would later vote on which route to build the road extension, and turned into an over two-hour discussion.  

The Osceola Parkway Extension will expand by another nine miles to connect to State Road 417 (Central Florida GreeneWay) and allow for faster access for more of the developments to come to the area and direct access to Orlando International Airport. The project is estimated to have four travel lanes with two specialized lanes or a multimodal corridor. The project is also estimated to cost about $76 million more than other routes previously dismissed for their impact on the environment.  

State-protected animals, such as sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, and Sherman’s fox squirrels, are some of the animals living in the 1,700-acre Split Oak Forest. The forest is under a conservation easement to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation from Orange and Osceola counties, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website.  

“I bought my house in the Lake Nona area about five years ago, and one of the reasons was because of Split Oak Forest,” Lake Nona resident Sharon Mcgreen said. “I remember when your predecessors on the Orange and Osceola county commissions promised that those 1,700 acres to create Split Oak Forest would be preserved forever with public access.”