Central Florida Expressway Authority Publishes 'The River and the Road' About Wekiva Parkway

ORLANDO, Fla., August 5, 2024 (Newswire.com) - The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) announces the publishing of “The River and The Road,” a story documenting the process, collaboration and partnership between the unlikeliest of allies who put the common good above competing interests to complete the last 25 miles of the metro Orlando regional beltway through a vast and fragile ecosystem.

Written by former veteran transportation reporter for The Orlando Sentinel Dan Tracy, the 93-page book artfully communicates how expressways can be built with consensus and stewardship of their communities.

“Together they have set an ambitious sustainability program, which was not much more than a whisper at the authority a year ago…My hope with this book is that readers might better appreciate the human side of how megaroads are planned and built, at least here in Central Florida,” said Tracy in the book’s prologue.

The $1.6 billion Wekiva Parkway was seven decades in the making as the last, most complicated, and expensive link of the beltway located northwest of downtown Orlando. The award-winning project has earned national and international accolades for a highly sensitive approach in the planning, design and construction of the parkway, which include:

• Setting aside 3,400 acres for conservation
• Planning for 1.5 miles of wildlife bridges with 7,900 feet of safe passage for animals 
• 10 miles of multi-use trails connecting to a statewide trail system
• Designing a three-deck, 360-foot bridge over the river without construction or piers touching the water

The story of preservation and expansion focuses on the Wekiva River, a major water recharge area for Central Florida. The book contains scenic photographs of the river and candid narratives in print and video from two toll agencies, river protection activists, more than 50,000 residents, and local and state officials. 

“The River and The Road” is available digitally to the public on the Central Florida Expressway Authority website Wekiva Parkway Book page. 

About the Central Florida Expressway Authority

The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is an independent agency of the State of Florida that operates and maintains a regional network of expressways for 3 million residents of Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties and more than 75 million annual visitors to Central Florida. CFX’s 125-centerline mile, user- funded system includes 73 interchanges, 14 mainline toll plazas, 5 mainline gantries, 76 ramp toll plazas and 343 bridges. On average, more than 1.3 million toll transactions are recorded daily, nearly 90 percent of them electronically. CFX operates E-PASS, the first electronic toll collection system in Florida, with more than one million E-PASS accounts. For more information, visit CFXway.com.

Source: Central Florida Expressway Authority