ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Horizon West is a growing community near Walt Disney World. There are new homes, apartment buildings, shops, and schools, and that means more traffic headaches.
One area of concern is the intersection of Schofield and Avalon Roads, where there have been several accidents.
They recently put in a new temporary traffic light and eventually, there will be a permanent light. But some residents and county officials say it’s not enough.
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District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson says the problem is that this is the main vehicle access to Highway 27 and Lake County.
Her office reports there have been nine crashes in the area since September.
“My predecessors did not keep up with impact fees to keep up with increased pressure which depleted the funds needed for this type of transportation investment, years and years of not getting enough revenue put us in this position so it’s going to take long to get us out,” said Wilson.
Developers are supposed to pay those impact fees, but not enough was collected over the years, according to Wilson.
There are lots of homes and development but not enough roads and the State Road 429 toll road goes right through the middle of Horizon West.
The intersection where drivers turn onto Avalon from Eastbound Schofield Road has become a popular intersection because it’s used to enter and exit State Road 429.
Traffic is about to get heavier because the Central Florida Expressway Authority is working on providing another access road to Highway 27 and Lake County.
It will be called State Road 516, but Wilson expects it to take several years to complete.
“If you ask our transportation engineers what is holding us up, they will say right of way acquisition is holding it up,” said Wilson.
That means more roads need to be built on land held by private owners, mostly developers who the county is trying to work with.
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