page_title: Florida State Road 538
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Florida State Road 538 / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the initial phase of the Poinciana Parkway
context_page_description: The Poinciana Parkway, also known as Florida State Road 538, is a 7.22-mile-long toll road built in Osceola and Polk Counties, Florida. Construction began in 2013 and was completed in 2016. The road had been planned for decades to provide a traffic outlet from Poinciana northwest to US 17/US 92 and Interstate 4. Costs skyrocketed after land along the planned route was converted to a mitigation bank, requiring a bridge to span most of the 1.2 miles stretch through the restored wetland. The road was originally planned to be built by Avatar—the primary developer of Poinciana—as a four-lane, limited-access highway; after the decision was made to build the bridge across the mitigation bank a toll was planned for the bridge segment of the road, but the collapse of the 2000s housing bubble and increased costs forced Avatar to abandon their plans to build the private toll road. About the same time, Osceola County formed the Osceola County Expressway Authority to build a loop road around the Kissimmee-St.Cloud area, which would include the Poinciana Parkway.
context_section_description: The Poinciana Parkway is a two-lane, controlled-access toll highway, designed to be expanded to a four-lane expressway, that runs between the Polk-Osceola County line and the Cypress Parkway (CR 580) in Poinciana, with a large section crossing undeveloped swampland. The highway is contiguous with Kinney Harmon Road in Polk County, which connects the Poinciana Parkway with US 17/US 92 in Loughman. Across US 17/92, the road continues as the Ronald Reagan Parkway (former County Road 54), which provides indirect access from the Poinciana Parkway to Interstate 4.
  From the northwest, the road passes through the Reedy Creek Mitigation Bank—a conserved area of wetlands—where it crosses a 6,200-foot (1,900 m) bridge, then makes a turn to the south. South of the bridge, the parkway has grade-separated partial intersections (southbound exits, northbound entrances) with Marigold Avenue and KOA Street and terminates at an at-grade T-intersection with Cypress Parkway. Electronic-only toll gantries are located between the RCMB bridge and Marigold Avenue and between Marigold Avenue and KOA Street; all tolls are collected using either wireless transponders (SunPass or E-Pass) or using "pay by plate" billing, in which a photo of the license plate is captured and the vehicle owner is sent a bill by mail for the appropriate toll.
  With a SunPass or E-Pass transponder, a $1.75 toll is charged at a toll gantry north of Marigold Avenue to cross the RCMB and an additional $0.50 toll is charged between Marigold Avenue and KOA Street; the tolls using the pay-by-plate billing system are $1.95 and $0.70, respectively.
caption: Overview of the Poinciana Parkway's route (orange & green). Solivita Grand (purple outline) is a large, planned residential development.
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