A decades-old proposal to alleviate traffic congestion in one of the fastest-growing areas of Seminole County — between State Road 417 and Orlando Sanford International Airport — has taken a step closer to becoming reality.

At a recent meeting of the Central Florida Expressway Authority governing board, transportation officials recommended two routes for a two-lane tolled thoroughfare — narrowing it from an original five.

The routes show northbound drivers getting on the new connector road near the Lake Jesup toll plaza on SR 417 — also known as the Seminole County Expressway — and traveling northeast, then north onto Red Cleveland Boulevard directly into the airfield north of Lake Mary Boulevard.

Will Hawthorne, CFX director of transportation, planning and policy, told the board Feb. 13 that the routes “would be the least impactful” to existing residential areas than two others coming from the toll plaza.

Drivers traveling south on SR 417 would be unable to directly access the toll road from any of the four proposed routes.

Construction costs for the two recommended routes were estimated at between $173 million and $177 million, according to CFX documents.

CFX officials and consultants rejected a fifth route that had an elevated roadway with viaducts running above the median of East Lake Mary Boulevard. Drivers on SR 417 would link with the connector road just north of Ronald Reagan Boulevard.

“That had a very high price tag” of nearly $500 million, Hawthorne said.

Even so, that route would have the least residential and environmental impacts — including on wetlands.

A timeline for construction of the new connector road is not set and its start is likely years away.

The CFX board — which has representatives from Orange, Lake, Seminole, Osceola and Brevard counties along with the city of Orlando — is scheduled to hear another presentation on the connector road this summer before making a final decision on the route by year-end.

For decades, Seminole officials have pressed for this connector road because of growing congestion on Lake Mary Boulevard and surrounding roads — especially during rush hours.

Thousands of new homes and apartments were built over the last 10 years in the area around the airport and north of Lake Jesup. It’s also the site of the giant Boombah Sports Complex which hosts dozens of athletic tournaments annually.

“It should have been done two decades ago,” Commission Chairman Jay Zembower said about the connector road. “But when it’s done it’s really going to be a real relief for the Lake Mary Boulevard and the whole airport corridor as we move forward to the future.

“This will really help alleviate many of those congested intersections.”

An average of 56,300 vehicles use SR 417 at East Airport Boulevard daily, according to data from the Florida Department of Transportation. And everyday roughly 23,000 cars and trucks use the stretch of East Lake Mary Boulevard west of Red Cleveland Boulevard, which serves as the southern entrance to the airport.

He renovated a rundown Seminole house. The county billed him $24K for the neglect of the previous owner.

Without a connector road, traffic on Lake Mary Boulevard would surge to an estimated 36,700 vehicles daily by 2050, according to a CFX study. The connector could reduce that to 19,800 a day, according to estimates.

The airport had nearly 2.9 million flyers last year and its passenger count is expected to increase by 91% to just over 4 million by 2037.

“The airport fully supports it because traffic is increasing,” Charles Gregg Sr., a member of the airport’s board of directors, said of the tolled connector road. “With all the new housing traffic is going to get heavier.”

The preferred routes would run between existing residential neighborhoods and officials are considering the environmental impacts.

The routes sit north of Lake Jesup Wilderness and Conservation Area, home to protected species including Florida scrub jays, snail kites, gopher tortoises and bald eagles.