Some environmentalists worry that a proposed truck refueling stop could deter animals from using Florida's wildlife overpass.
The development would butt up against an underpass being built just north of what will become the state's first overpass for wildlife.
A hearing will be held by Polk County's development department on Thursday to see if wetlands on the property would make it unsuitable for new buildings.
State transportation planners have spent around $25 million building the structure over Interstate 4, and another underpass just to the north under State Road 33.
But a parcel butting up against the underpass is now being eyed to service trucks. RL Carriers has an application with the Southwest Florida Water Management District to develop the wetland and floodplain area within the wildlife corridor that connects the new I-4 wildlife crossing overpass and State Road 33 underpass to the Green Swamp.
ALSO READ: There will soon be a new way for wildlife to migrate over Interstate 4
Marian Ryan, an environmental advocate in Polk, said they've been advocating for a wildlife corridor leading to the nearby Green Swamp for decades.
"This crossing in the Gator Creek area has been a tough one because there's been so much development around that area," Ryan said, "And we were just horrified to find that after DOT had purchased land to make that crossing happen, that that big wetland that's being proposed to be developed for fuel for a fueling station, is at risk. I mean, it's a wetland and flood plain. We never in a million years thought that that would be under threat of development."
The proposal will come up before the Polk County Development Review Committee on Thursday morning.
