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More than 100 residents — hungry for information on the proposed Central Polk Parkway — heard a presentation from, and discussed specifics with, officials from the Florida Department of Transportation Monday at the W.H. Stuart Conference Center in Bartow. Read more »

By Dan Tracy, ORLANDO SENTINEL

August 27, 2010

The $1.8 billion Wekiva Parkway, the last link in the long-sought beltway around Metro Orlando, has never been closer to being built — a prospect that has road builders and motorists cheering. Read more »

For a while now, crazy situations, hunger pangs and frustrating hours behind the wheel have been making life slightly miserable for Florida commuter Joe Panyanouvong. The attorney who regularly makes the 84-mile journey between Orlando and Tampa on Interstate 4 is ready for a solution. Read more »

The Seminole County has approved a plan that would outsource control over a major road construction project.

The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority will design, construct and then place tolls on the Wekiva Parkway.

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Metro Orlando’s main road-building agency is expected to approve today the first steps toward building the final leg of a long-sought Central Florida beltway.

The board likely will decide today to borrow $300 million to start design of that missing link, called the Wekiva Parkway, as well as to widen the area’s most popular toll road. Read more »

Taking a calculated risk that Florida’s economy will be stronger in years ahead, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the Legislature’s ill-advised hijacking of transportation funds.

The move will save construction jobs and probably keep some construction companies out of bankruptcy, at a time of unprecedented hardship for the building industry. Read more »

Florida has received $66.6 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a brand new high speed rail system between Orlando and Tampa. Nearly $80 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants to Florida and four other states for high speed rail development were announced today by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at a regional leadership conference in central Florida. Florida’s first funding installment is part of the $1.25 billion grant to the state announced by the Administration in January. Read more »

Metro Orlando’s road-building agency asked Lake and Seminole counties six months ago for permission to construct a tolled highway in their jurisdictions.

The Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority is still waiting for a reply. Read more »

Dwindling state tax dollars are postponing or scrapping nearly $119 million worth of road improvements in Central Florida, including extra lanes to a stretch of traffic-clogged Interstate 4 through downtown Orlando.

But the planned $1.2 billion SunRail commuter train remains on schedule. Read more »