About 200 concerned Poinciana residents filled the local community center Tuesday night to hear Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington and a panel of project officials discuss the community’s future in a town hall-style meeting.

Much of the discussion centered around roadwork, road problems and the dangers of trying to leave the area in a hurry should an emergency arise. “If we have a forest fire out here, it would be trouble,” one woman in the audience told the panel. “Nobody could get out.”

The woman was referring to the only major artery leading in and out of Poinciana – Pleasant Hill Road, which heads toward Kissimmee in one direction and Haines City in the other. Much of the time, this thoroughfare is congested even with routine traffic.

“We live in a rathole,” another community resident shouted out to the panel. “If there’s a fire, we die here. If you’re going to do something, do it, don’t just say it.”

“We have a lot of one-roads-in and one-roads-out,” Arrington said, referring to the smaller roadways branching into residential areas. “But right now, we have the most aggressive road program in the nation.”

“It seems like we just get more roads leading to nowhere,” one man quipped.

Gregg Hostetler, assistant public works administrator with the county’s Public Works Division Administration, told the crowd there were many road projects going on right now throughout the county and that traffic congestion was being dealt with the best it could.

Another in the crowd spoke of the dangerous left-hand turn from Pleasant Hill onto Poinciana Boulevard. The two-lane turn merges very quickly into a one-lane road.

“Poinciana Boulevard and Pleasant Hill is a disaster area. There are accidents every day,” he said. “Whoever approved that thing was asleep when he signed it off.”

Hostetler said that specific road issue would be looked into.

Hostetler also reported the Poinciana Boulevard phase 3 project was on hold, but would be one of the first projects to proceed when funding is available. He also said the first phase of the Hoagland Boulevard project would soon be getting a $15 million infusion from the state’s department of transportation. He said he was also hoping for funding for road resurfacing on Pleasant Hill Road from Reedy Creek to U.S. Highway 17-92.

But some audience members weren’t exactly impressed by the number of projects in progress or those that soon would be.

“I drive by and I see equipment there doing nothing,” said one man. “I see men standing there doing nothing.”

Hostetler responded that occasionally this will happen and that work scheduling tends to play a part in it.

Another audience member said she was unhappy with the timing of traffic signals in the area, causing her to start and stop her vehicle often. That situation, officials said, should be addressed in 2012.

Jeff Jones, smart growth director for Osceola County, informed the crowd that the future of the community is something to look forward to, as plans for development appear very positive.

“This is a very robust development plan,” said Jones, who has mapped out visions of the county well into the next few decades. “At the end of the day, we’re looking at 4,000 jobs to accommodate the population.”

Another topic discussed by officials was a high-speed rail system, as well as the recently approved SunRail.

“We are moving forward and $40 million will be coming from (a federal grant for SunRail),” Arrington said.

“This opens up a lot of opportunities for us. People are going to say it costs too much to do this, but it costs too much not to. This is a real game-changer for Osceola County.”

President Barack Obama was in Tampa Thursday to announce Florida would get $1.2 billion to proceed with a high-speed rail system. It is estimated the project would cost nearly $3 billion. Congress has promised to kick in an additional $1 billion per year for the next five years for the rail.

When finished, the high-speed rail system would travel from Tampa to Orlando International Airport.

California, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois are other states receiving federal funding for high-speed rail.