State Road 516 will charge cars, save wildlife, move people
Roads need to be more than a way to move people from point A to point B.
In places like my home, Lake County, where our motto is “Real Florida, Real Close,” they need to be — and they must be – more sustainably built to alleviate sensitive environmental concerns and be safer for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.
And, yes, roads need to also get people and commercial goods from one place to another while creating new economic opportunities for our communities.
Different and innovative thinking went into the planning for State Road 516, a new Central Florida Expressway Authoritymexpressway that will connect U.S. Highway 27 in southern Lake County to State Road 429 in West Orange.
This week’s groundbreaking for SR 516 represents the determination of the CFX board (of which I am a member and former chair) the CFX staff, and our partners in the public and private sectors to do more than just move cars. We will innovate in a sustainable way.
When the 4.4-mile SR 516 expressway opens in 2027, I believe it will be seen as a model for how to build roads. Here are a few reasons why:
The route was chosen to relieve a pinch point in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which provides much-needed land for imperiled animals, like the Florida panther.
SR 516 will include an adjacent pedestrian and bike trail, opening more recreational space in the growing South Lake and West Orange areas and providing more access to Lake Louisa State Park, one of the gems of Lake County.
CFX will use native plants and pollinator-friendly landscaping that require no irrigation. We expect the road will secure an Envision Roadway Platinum Certification — the highest possible global rating for sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure. Only 15 U.S. highways have earned that designation to date.
And in what might be the most wow factor of SR 516, it will serve as a test site for charging electric vehicles through an in-road wireless system as they pass over the expressway at highway speeds. We think that feature will open new potential for the future of electric vehicles and help make Lake County and Central Florida a home for tech jobs related to EVs. For sure, roads get people and goods from Point A to Point B and beyond, both those which are here now and those we are planning to welcome.
It will provide much needed commuting options — and evacuation routes — for busy roads like State Road 50, U.S. 27 and U.S. Highway 192. And it will provide faster access to other points in Central Florida.
SR 516 also will play a vital role in Lake’s plans for Wellness Way, a 16,000-acre region that will bring high-wage, high-tech and health jobs to South Lake along with new residential and commercial areas. It will ultimately be the only east-west connector between Orange and Lake counties, providing a fast and convenient way to move people and goods across the area and state.
As an environmental engineer and a Central Florida native, I am proud that this expressway project honors our deep love for the real Florida that we can find not far from our homes. It balances regional transportation needs with conservation.
There is no doubt that SR 516 will set a new expressway design standard nationally that effectively blends sustainability and economic gardening.