Seminole, Orange counties at odds over McCulloch Road widening; and who knew what, when

Seminole and Orange counties are telling sharply different stories about how a $33 million road-widening project on their shared border reached a public meeting stage — with Seminole County commissioners saying they were blindsided and Orange County saying it spent nearly two years trying to coordinate.

At issue is a proposed four-lane divided roadway on McCulloch Road, which straddles the county line. The county boundary runs down the center of the right of way: Orange County controls the southern half, Seminole the northern. Orange County’s preferred design would expand the road northward — onto Seminole County land — because widening to the south would require purchasing more than 12 homes.

Orange County held a public meeting on the project Feb. 23 at a church on McCulloch Road. Seminole County commissioners say they had no idea it was happening.

‘They didn’t need our permission’

Commissioner Bob Dallari told colleagues at the Feb. 24 commission meeting that he learned about the public meeting from a constituent on Friday — three days before it took place. He said he attended and was taken aback by what he heard.

“I was a little bit taken back that the Orange County staff was insisting that they had full authority to move forward with this project,” Dallari said. “They assured me that we — they didn’t need our permission to do that.”

John Slott, Seminole County’s Public Works director, said his department was not aware of the Orange County meeting until commissioners alerted them. Two Public Works staff members attended.

Orange County says it tried — repeatedly

Brian Sanders, manager of Orange County’s Transportation Planning Division, disputes what commissioners said. He said his department held two coordination meetings with Seminole County staff — one on March 11, 2024, and another on Dec. 19, 2025 — and mailed project newsletters to all five Seminole County commissioners approximately two weeks before the public meeting.

“All of the Seminole County staff that attended our March 2024 coordination meeting are no longer with Seminole County, so the institutional knowledge was lost,” Sanders said.

Seminole tells it differently

Chris Patton, Seminole County’s director of communications, acknowledged the December 2025 meeting but described it in very different terms. He said the primary purpose was to review and potentially modernize the 1992 interlocal maintenance agreement between the two counties. During the conversation, Orange County “briefly referenced a transportation study occurring in the area, but no project specifics were provided and there was no discussion regarding an upcoming public meeting,” Patton said.

He did not address the March 2024 meeting.

As for the newsletters Sanders said were mailed, Seminole County said it has found no evidence they arrived. Patton said the county reviewed its records and found nothing. “Board offices and Public Works staff have no record of receiving that correspondence,” he said.

The vote Dallari didn’t mention

Sanders also pointed to Dallari’s role on another board. The McCulloch Road project is included in the MetroPlan Orlando Transportation Improvement Program, which was approved by the MetroPlan board on Feb. 11, 2026 — 13 days before the Seminole County commission meeting where Dallari said he was caught off guard.

Dallari not only sits on that board but served as its chairman in 2025. He currently holds the secretary/treasurer position.

“Commissioner Dallari is on MetroPlan Orlando and voted to approve the TIP, which includes this project on February 11, 2026,” Sanders said.

Dallari did not mention the MetroPlan vote during the Feb. 24 commission meeting. He has not responded to multiple requests for comment about whether he was aware the McCulloch Road project was in the TIP when he voted to approve it.

Project scope

Orange County’s study recommends a four-lane divided roadway from Ken Dixon Way to North Tanner Road, with an estimated cost of $33 million. Olore described the project at the commission meeting as running from Lockwood to Old Lockwood Road, about a mile. The study is expected to be completed in May 2026, Sanders said, with a public hearing placeholder set for May 5 before the Orange County Board of County Commissioners. The project is funded through Orange County’s INVEST transportation program.

Most residents at the meeting opposed widening

Tawny Olore, Seminole County’s acting county engineer, gave commissioners a detailed recap of the Feb. 23 meeting. She said about 70 people attended, with most living on the Seminole County side. About 80 percent of those present opposed the widening, she said.

“The most concerning part that I had,” Olore told commissioners, “was that it was sort of the attitude, as Commissioner Dallari said, there was a little bit of confusion that Orange County could just widen to the north, and this board, this body, really didn’t have too much to say about that.”

She said she stood up and clarified to the audience that the county line sits at the center of the roadway and that any northern expansion falls within Seminole County’s jurisdiction.

“I clarified that and say that this body has a say in what goes on with that road,” she said. “That was actually met by applause.”

A decades-old agreement — and a new complication

Commissioner Jay Zembower raised an interlocal road maintenance agreement between the two counties that governs McCulloch Road. Zembower cautioned commissioners to understand the agreement before taking action.

“I think we really need to know what that interlocal road maintenance agreement says between the two counties before we get too far ahead of our skis,” Zembower said.

Slott said the county attorney’s office has already reviewed the agreement and delivered a preliminary finding: it is silent on capital improvement projects and only addresses routine maintenance.

“We do know that it is silent on projects. It only speaks to maintenance,” Slott said. “It really does need to be modernized. To give you an idea, it is… the first agreement is typeset.”

Econ River crossing concerns

Zembower said the widening is connected to a broader transportation question — Orange County’s long-stalled Richard Crotty Parkway, a major east-west corridor planned since 1998 that has not been built. He said the McCulloch widening is “another way to try to move that traffic.”

For residents along the corridor, the widening raises a concern that it is a stepping stone toward extending the road across the Econlockhatchee River into eastern Seminole County. The Econ River has long served as a symbolic and legal barrier to eastward urban sprawl.

Sanders said Orange County’s Long Range Transportation Plan does not include an eastward extension of McCulloch Road across the Econ River. Zembower acknowledged the public meeting was “not about crossing the Econ, it was just about widening McCulloch up to Lockwood,” but said “the fear for the community is, this is another step to getting to cross the Econ.”

What happens next

Chairman Andria Herr said the letter to Orange County should clearly assert Seminole County’s jurisdictional rights.

“I think the letter needs to spell out our concern for jurisdictional rights,” Herr said. “Certainly, it’s enough to lose ground to Tallahassee. We can’t be losing ground to neighboring counties any further than we already have.”

Herr said the letter should be followed by a plan for ongoing engagement with Orange County officials “to get this right-sized.”

Zembower and Slott agreed the interlocal agreement itself needs a formal briefing for all commissioners, with an eye toward modernizing it. Slott said his office would coordinate with the county attorney to schedule the briefing and draft the letter.

Patton said the letter expressing Seminole County’s concerns about notification and coordination is being finalized and is expected to be sent Thursday.

Updated March 6, 2026: For clarity and brevity.