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Did the Flemings Road connection from Orange County to Lake County open by January 1, 2026, as the County said it would?

The Roadmap Reckoner · Flemings Road connection to Lake County, Village I, Horizon West, Orange County, Florida · last checked 2026-10-26

Verdict	PENDING, OVERDUE (by 298 days)
Promiser	Orange County Government, through the Village I Horizon West Road Network Agreement with the signatory owners (Board of County Commissioners)
Place	Flemings Road connection to Lake County, Village I, Horizon West, Orange County, Florida
Promised	Connection "no later than January 1, 2026" (Road Network Agreement section 6.6(b); Orange County statement printed by WKMG, August 28, 2024); counted from January 1, 2026
Delivered / status	Not shown as open as of October 26, 2026. The Second Amendment (June 17, 2025) sets November 30, 2026 for Substantial Completion of segments 5 and 6; the County said on January 28, 2026 construction was underway and expected to finish in early 2027
Last checked	2026-10-26

Verdict: PENDING, OVERDUE, by 298 days (counted from January 1, 2026 to the last check). The January 1, 2026 date in the agreement [C3] passed, and no record I read says the road is open [C17, C17a]. The date now in the agreement, November 30, 2026, is 35 days after the last check, and the County's own forecast is later than it [C8, C13].

Last checked: October 26, 2026.

The promise. On August 28, 2024, WKMG printed Orange County's statement that the road agreement required the owners to finish the connection by January 1, 2026 [C16]. The agreement's own text says the same thing [C3].
What changed. On June 17, 2025 the Board approved a Second Amendment [C7]. It sets November 30, 2026 as the date for Substantial Completion of Flemings Road segments 5 and 6, and asks the owners to meet it by "good faith efforts" [C8].
Where it stands. On January 28, 2026 the County said construction was underway on segments 5 and 6 and was expected to finish in early 2027 [C13]. WFTV reported on December 11, 2025 that, according to the County, M/I Homes got a notice to proceed on November 24, and that the current timeline suggests it should open by March 2027 [C21]. A County spokesperson, as printed by The Orlando Real on a page that carries no date, gave late February 2027 [C15].
Cost. The records give several different figures, none of them a total for the road. They run from $1.45MM in 2018 to a $19.5 million project figure in a 2026 news report [C1, C15].

The promise

On August 28, 2024, ClickOrlando (WKMG) printed this statement from Orange County [C16]:

"The latest approved road network agreement requires the signatory owners to complete the Flemings Road connection to Lake County to occur no later than January 1, 2026."

The agreement is the Village I Horizon West Road Network Agreement, which the Board approved on January 28, 2020 [C6a, C19]. Its section 6.6(b) reads [C3]:

"The connection of Flemings Road to Lake County via the construction of Road Segment 6 as shown in Exhibit "A-1" shall occur no later than January 1, 2026, but may occur at an earlier date following the Effective Date of this Agreement."

The same section sets a start deadline. If construction of Road Segment 6 does not start on or before July 1, 2025, the owners must put the construction funds in escrow by July 10, 2025 [C4]. If they fail to start in time or to escrow the funds in time, the agreement says [C20, C4]:

"The exclusive remedy of the County is that it shall be entitled to cease any further release or allocation of Trips to the Signatory Owners."

The date goes back to a 2018 term sheet, which the Board accepted on November 13, 2018. It says [C1, C2]:

"Village I Owners will deliver the 2-lane improvement of Flemings Road in no more than 2 segments to occur no later than January 1, 2026."

Timeline

November 13, 2018. The Board accepted the term sheet [C2]. In it the County would pay the cost of upgrading the road beyond the standard two-lane design, "estimated to be $1.45MM" [C1].
January 28, 2020. The Board approved the road agreement with the January 1, 2026 date in section 6.6(b) [C3, C6a].
March 22, 2022. The Board approved a design study for CR 545 (Avalon Road) and Flemings Road [C6].
November 15, 2022. The Board approved a First Amendment. It added a cash-escrow option for impact fee funds in place of a letter of credit [C6a]. The First Amendment's description, as read, does not mention a change to the schedule [C6a].
August 28, 2024. The County restated the January 1, 2026 date to WKMG [C16].
June 17, 2025. The Board approved the Second Amendment [C7]. For segments 5 and 6 it says the owners "shall use good faith efforts" to commence construction on or before May 31, 2025 and to obtain Substantial Completion on or before November 30, 2026, "notwithstanding any of the provisions of Section 6.6(b) above to the contrary" [C8, C9]. The May 31, 2025 date is earlier than the June 17, 2025 approval [C7, C9].
September 16, 2025. The Board approved the purchase of lands "necessary for the widening of Flemings Road, Segments 5 & 6", at a cost of $1,777,900 [C12].
December 2, 2025. The Board approved three more easements for Flemings Road segments 5 and 6, listed as Parcels 8009, 8010 and 8011 [C12a].
January 28, 2026. The County newsroom said "Construction is now underway on segments 5 and 6 of the Flemings Road Extension" and "Construction is expected to be completed in early 2027" [C13].
December 11, 2025. WFTV reported that, "according to Orange County, the private developer building the road, MI Homes, got a notice proceed with construction on November 24th", that "Construction should be complete within 14-months", and that "the current timeline suggests it should open by March 2027" [C21]. The article was published December 11, 2025 and prints no year for November 24 [C21].
February 10, 2026. The Board approved a utility reimbursement agreement for Flemings 5 and 6, with a County share of $518,940. It says M/I Homes of Orlando, LLC "is constructing improvements at and near the intersection of Avalon Road and Flemings Road" [C14].
March 10, 2026. The Board approved a Supplemental Agreement for $35,306.56 in transportation credits for a pond tract. It says it is "not an amendment thereto" of the road agreement [C19]. The text I read does not mention a construction date for Flemings Road [C19].
Spring 2026 (page undated). The Orlando Real printed a County spokesperson's statement that the project "was more than 23% complete at the end of March", with completion expected "late February 2027" [C15].
October 26, 2026 (last check). No County record I read says the road has opened [C17, C17a].

What changed and why, in the record's own words

Why the date moved. The County's staff memo of May 29, 2025 says the schedule was adjusted "based on the current status of design plans, environmental permitting, and opportunities to phase construction" and that "Many of the project delays have been outside of the control of the Village I owners or the County" [C10].
The new date. The same memo calls November 30, 2026 the "proposed outside date for Substantial Completion of Flemings Road" [C10].
The wording of the obligation. The 2020 text says the connection "shall occur" by January 1, 2026 [C3]. The Second Amendment says the owners "shall use good faith efforts" to meet its timing [C8].
The cost split. The same memo says the County's share of the Flemings Road construction is "62% of the total cost of construction for the 4-lane project", with the owners bearing 38% "without reimbursement or compensation" [C11].
The forecast is later than the new date. The County's January 28, 2026 forecast of early 2027 [C13] is after November 30, 2026 [C8]. WFTV's December 11, 2025 report gives March 2027 [C21], and The Orlando Real's page gives late February 2027 [C15].

What it cost

These are different measures from different dates. They do not add up to a total.

2018. The County's incremental cost for the upgrade was "estimated to be $1.45MM" [C1].
2020. The agreement's Exhibit A-3 lists a four-lane Segment 5 at $4,298,083 and a four-lane Segment 6 at $2,650,485 [C5]. Its notes say the unit cost for Flemings assumes 2017 County average costs [C5].
May 29, 2025. The County's reimbursement for CR 545 (Road Segment 1) and the Flemings Road upgrade was estimated at "approximately $7.4M" using costs from before 2020, and the memo says "Construction costs have increased significantly since 2020" [C11]. The Second Amendment replaces that cash with transportation impact fee credits [C11].
2025 and 2026. The County approved $1,777,900 for land on September 16, 2025 [C12], and $518,940 as its share of utility work on February 10, 2026 [C14].
News reports. WFTV, on December 11, 2025, printed "approximately $20 million" for the construction cost, without saying who gave the figure [C21]. The Orlando Real printed "The $19.5 million project", attributing its figures to a County spokesperson [C15].
No County record I read gives a single total cost for the Flemings Road connection or a construction contract price [C1, C5, C11, C12, C14]. The two news figures are rounded and do not say what they include [C15, C21].

What to watch

November 30, 2026. The date for Substantial Completion in the Second Amendment [C8].
Early 2027. The County's own forecast [C13].
The County's remedy. I found no Board item that uses the right to stop releasing or allocating Trips [C4, C17a].
A third amendment. No third amendment appears among the 65 Board records whose titles contain "Village I", "Flemings" or "Sawgrass Bay" [C17a].

What this entry did not check

Whether the owners "commence construction" as the 2020 agreement defines it, which is to have "executed a contract to construct the Road Segment 6 Improvements" and "held a pre-construction meeting with the County" [C22]. The only start date I found is the notice to proceed that WFTV reports, citing the County, on November 24 [C21]. I found no record of when the contract was signed or the meeting held, and no County document that gives the start date [C13, C14, C21].
Whether the Second Amendment uses that definition for its May 31, 2025 date. The clause quoted from it does not repeat the definition [C9].
The County newsroom's own search for "Flemings" returns one post, the January 28, 2026 post. No other County newsroom post that names Flemings Road was found [C17].
The Board record search was by matter title only. It is not a full read of every 2025 and 2026 agenda [C17a].
Lake County's side of the connection. A Central Florida Public Media report of September 4, 2025 says Lake County finished its part in May [C18]. I did not check Lake County's own records.
The production schedule in the 2020 agreement's Exhibit A-2, and the sign WKMG reported at the end of Sawgrass Bay Boulevard [C16].
The date of The Orlando Real page. A search result dated it May 13, 2026, and the page itself carries no date [C15].
Quotes from the agreements, the term sheet and the County memos come from scanned pages or text layers. Each was compared with the page image before use [C1, C3, C4, C5, C6a, C8, C9, C19, C20].

Sources

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