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 (1.9 km) stretch through the restored wetland.

[1] 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,[4][5][6] then makes a turn to the south.

The first plans for the new community were made around 1970 to develop tens of thousands of acres of rural land along the border between Osceola and Polk Counties.

Parker-Poinciana Properties, the developer owning the land on which Poinciana was built, envisioned a bedroom community of 250,000, minutes away from jobs and entertainment (plans to build nearby Disney World were announced in 1966).

[10] Avatar—one of the main developers of Poinciana—had long planned to connect Kinney Harmon Road with the Cypress Parkway in order to relieve congestion along Poinciana and Pleasant Hill Boulevards.

Despite being included in the comprehensive land use plans of both Polk and Osceola Counties, the Polk County Commission voted in 1997 to vacate right-of-way along Kinney Harmon Road to a developer to build a 495-lot mobile home park, a move that would effectively block construction of the Poinciana Parkway.

[13] Avatar sued the county and the 10th Judicial Circuit ruled that the commissioners did not explain why vacating the right-of-way would be in the public interest when making their decision.

[11] In 1994, Avatar spent $1.5 million for a conceptual permit from the South Florida Water Management District and also received permission from the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct a road across wetland to the northwest of Poinciana, even though they did not own that land at the time.

[14][6] In 1997, private investors received a permit from SFWMD to establish the Reedy Creek Mitigation Bank (RCMB) in the same area.

[3] However, the 2000s housing bubble that drove significant growth of Poinciana collapsed and Avatar was unable to justify the costs or finance construction of the highway.

Avatar donated approximately $48 million worth of right-of-way, studies/engineering work, construction plans, and permits[12]: 15–24  and gave Polk County a 9.8-acre (4.0 ha) parcel of land designated as a "public safety site" (future fire station and communications tower).

Because of the cost limit, the decision was made to build a two-lane highway initially, using a design that will easily permit the road to be widened to a four- or six-lane expressway in the future.

[24] marigold Construction of the highway was primarily financed by the sale of municipal bonds by OCX, backed financially by Osceola County.

[27] The state legislature has considered merging the two agencies to form a regional expressway authority that would also include Lake and Seminole Counties.

[9] The OOCEA's chairman Walter Ketcham remarked that the OCX bonds were so poorly rated "we wouldn't touch them with gloves".

[9] In September 2016, CFX agreed to study future road projects in Osceola County, in order to determine which are viable for financing and construction, on behalf of OCX for an 18-month period.