Windermere mayor aims to make road project his last achievement

Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn has, for years, championed the idea of building an east-west corridor that could relieve the town’s cut-through traffic and benefit commuters all over west Orange County.

He’s long advocated for a roadway that could have a dual purpose of relieving the town’s cut-through traffic and benefiting commuters all over west Orange County. 

The approximately one-mile road he envisions would link Apopka-Vineland Road to County Road 535. And on Thursday, Jan. 17, Bruhn had a meeting with Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to discuss the merits and logistics of such a roadway.

“The Darryl Carter flyover that was created several years ago linked the area around SeaWorld over I-4 to Turkey Lake Road,” Bruhn said. “So, today, if you go all the way down Turkey Lake Road, you will have a flyover that lets you go over I-4 and go directly into Seaworld, and that was a big plus. So anyway, about six to eight weeks ago, they approved the next extension of it, which takes that flyover from Turkey Lake Road to Apopka-Vineland. So that means that now we'll have a roadway that goes from I-4 to Apopka-Vineland. But the missing piece is to take it from Apopka-Vineland to County Road 535. So, what I'm proposing is to take that road and extend it across.”

The problem: the road would need to be built on top of wetland area, which makes the idea less palatable to many, including some Orange County government officials, Bruhn said.

"But the first challenge is to get everyone on board and have them recognize that it can be built without significant environmental impact." – Gary Bruhn

However, he asserts any potential impact to wetland areas could be mitigated with the use of culverts, he said. He referenced Wekiva Parkway – a proposed 25-mile expressway – as an example that there’s a precedent for such a project. According to the project’s dedicated website, 13 miles of the parkway was opened to traffic in 2018, with the entire parkway scheduled for completion in 2022.

“The thing is, it's got to go across wetlands,” Bruhn said. “But we can do it. The Wekiva Parkway goes through wetland and it was very controversial, but they found they were able to go through wetland with minimal environmental consequences. And it’s just going to take one mile to link Apopka-Vineland to 535. Some people think it would have to be all bridge, but it doesn't. You'd only need one or two bridges. And we could build the road and put a culvert underneath so the water can flow to both sides.”

Bruhn emphasized the road would provide major benefits to anyone who lives in Windermere or near Independence Parkway, Hamlin and Horizon West. He also suggested most of the funding should come from beneficiaries, including the developers of Hamlin, Horizon West and Disney.

“If we made this road, this would give everybody the opportunity to go from I-4 or Turkey Lake or Apopka-Vineland roads to (C.R.) 535 and not have to spend 45 minutes every day trying to go from Apopka-Vineland to (C.R.) 535 through the town of Windermere,” Bruhn said. “It would have a dramatic impact on mobility in west Orange County. But the two key steps to getting approval is getting MetroPlan to say, 'Hey, this sounds like a good idea' and making it a priority. 

“The other thing is getting backing from the county because it would be a county road since it would go from one county road to another county road,” he said. “But the first challenge is to get everyone on board and have them recognize that it can be built without significant environmental impact.”