Award-Winning Landscaping Flourishes Along CFX Roads

A cascade of colors and textures created by a wide variety of trees, shrubs and groundcovers surround the 125 centerline miles of roadway that comprise the Central Florida Expressway Authority system.

The plant material throughout the CFX system covers more than 10 million square feet – the equivalent of over 175 football fields. The majority of the landscape material installed along the roads, interchanges, and plazas is native to Florida, with all of the material utilized being drought tolerant, pest resistant, and requiring minimal fertilization and maintenance care.

Incorporating these types of plantings is beneficial by both reducing costs and limiting negative impacts on the environment.

The plant selection, layout designs, and installations are performed by the CFX’s landscape architect and the agency’s contractors with the goal of creating a sense of place, as well as enhancing the driving experience.

The landscape materials utilized throughout the system is quite diverse, with some plant species being chosen based on their ability to handle direct sun as opposed to being able to thrive in deep shade. Other material is found to be better suited to sandy soil conditions rather than areas that tend to retain moisture.

Additional benefits of low-impact landscape improvements are:

  • Excellent habitat for birds and pollinators
  • Reduced slope erosion repairs caused by mowing activities
  • Lessened periodic turf care, such as mowing, fertilizing and weed control applications
  • Enriching the soil with leaf debris, retaining soil moisture, and sequestering carbon
  • Screening views for adjacent properties​

CFX landscaping has won numerous awards from the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscaping Association, most recently for work done around S.R. 429 / S.R. 414 System Interchange and the S.R. 408 Raised Median Project. Most recently, CFX received the Garden of Honor from the Florida Native Plant Society for the Wekiva Parkway Landscaping Project. 

Generally, land throughout the system is sodded with Bahia turf grass. Plantings including but not limited to sand cord grass, saw palmettos, fire bushes, plumbagos, dwarf oleanders and confederate jasmine are used in mass and as accent throughout the system. On selected slopes, trees native to Florida are planted, such as pines, oaks, maples, wax myrtles, and saw palmetto.

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