Commissioner Nicole Wilson hosted a Community Meeting on On June 26 regarding upcoming improvements to Reams Road and Ficquette Road. The meeting was held at Horizon West Middle School and representatives from numerous Orange County agencies were present and spoke about the updates.

Both roadways will be widened from 2 to 4 lanes, receive a sidewalk, multiuse trail, lighting, and median landscaping. Reams Road will also receive a wildlife crossing to facility safe crossing of animals through the corridor.

The intersection of Ficquette Road, Summerlake Park Blvd, and Reams Road, which heavily flooded during Hurricane Ian, will be improved during the Fiquette Road project. The intersection will be realigned and new mast arms installed for the traffic light. The entrance to a new Dream Finders Homes community is also being added to this intersection.

The timeline for Ficquette Road indicates design will be completed by 2023, with right-of-way acquisition completed by summer 2025, and construction beginning in summer 2025. Construction is planned to last through the beginning of 2027.

Reams Road timeline indicates design to be completed in early 2024, right-of-way acquisition completed in 2026, with construction beginning in late 2026 going through 2028.

Video of the entire community meeting is available online and included below:

Transportation initiatives in Orange County have been underfunded for the past decade, as developers received a 62% discount on transportation impact fees between 2012 and 2021. The Orange County Board of County Commissioners restored the fees to 100% in August 2021.