Route Description
The road starts at the Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge in Lake Buena Vista, heading east, passing through several sections of the Disney World Complex before intersecting with World Drive and crossing into Osceola County. The parkway exits the Walt Disney World Resort, just before an interchange with Interstate 4. Although Osceola Parkway was built across Interstate 4 into the Walt Disney World Resort, an interchange with that freeway (Exit 65) did not open until 2001. The ramps with the exit to nearby State Road 536 are interspersed such that traffic going on to I-4 from SR 536 cannot directly exit onto Osceola Parkway, and vice versa. The road then has an interchange with the Southern Connector, where the Parkway becomes a limited access toll road (although not a full expressway). The parkway passes through residential areas, passing through an interchange with Poinciana Blvd., featuring ramp tolls of $0.75 for eastbound exiting traffic and westbound entering traffic. East of the interchange, Osceola Parkway crosses the one mainline toll plaza just east of Shingle Creek, with a $1.75 toll as of April 2009.
East of the toll plaza, the tolled section of the parkway ends as it becomes a surface street, as it continues to pass through residential and shopping areas with at grade intersections, most notably with John Young Parkway and U.S. Route 441 (Orange Blossom Trail) as the road heads towards Florida's Turnpike. East of the Turnpike, the road continues as a four lane street through another residential development until its terminus at Boggy Creek Road, near Buena Ventura Lakes.
The Parkway originally used an electronic toll collection system known as O-PASS, however the county elected to discontinue its own toll collection program and instead contracted with the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA)to provide that service, so the O-PASS system was merged with the E-PASS system. The Osceola Parkway also accepts SunPass accounts which are run by the Florida Department of Transportation and are accepted on most toll roads throughout the State of Florida.
Read more about this topic: Osceola Parkway
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