Heartland Parkway was a planned controlled-access toll road consisting of approximately 110–150 miles (180–240 km) from Interstate 4 near the Polk-Osceola County line in central Florida to the Fort Myers–Naples area of southwest Florida, through rural portions of Polk, Hardee, Highlands, DeSoto, Glades, Lee, and possibly Collier counties.

Alligator Alley and several two-lane rural roads can transport millions of people living in Collier, Lee, and Charlotte counties away from the Gulf coast.

Some of the key points from the 2006-2007 studies included:[5] Support for the construction of the parkway has ebbed and flowed.

[7][8] A major proponent of the Heartland Parkway was J. D. Alexander, a state legislator from 1998 to 2012, from eastern Polk County.

Until 2012,[9] Alexander was CEO of Atlantic Blue Group, which owns tens of thousands of acres of property along or near the proposed alignment.