Colonial Pedestrian Overpass and OUT Extension [Under Construction]

[dcluley98]

There is a new ARB Report out on the Colonial Pedestrian Overpass Bridge with renderings and final approval of the lighting plan. http://www.cityoforlando.net/city-planning/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/03/ARB2016-00070report.pdf

Report says project is scheduled to commence construction First Quarter of 2017.  I can confirm that work has started with site clearing and pile driving. Crews flagged the area and removed multiple trees in the right of way for the project next to SteelHouse this month. I expect sitework to begin and we may see vertical construction soon.  I will keep updates going as the project progresses, as I live in Steelhouse. Renderings below.

Aerial Plan:

Lighting Rendering Looking from East to West: 

Lighting Rendering Looking from West to East: 

OUT Approach to Bridge from Downtown:

Truss Uplighting Detail on Span:

Looks pretty cool.  I just hope they can vary the colors on that Pylon and Ramp. 

Edited April 28, 2017 by dcluley98

[dcluley98]

Alright, took some photos after work around my apartment complex of what I think is this work starting. Using the aerial map I posted above, you can sort of see where this right of way and beginning of construction corresponds to the pedestrian bridge route as opposed to just more work on Ultimate I-4. Sorry for the crap pics this time. I don't have time to make them look better, and some of it is just destruction and staking at this point. 

Overlooking the Pedestrian Bridge site from the top of SteelHouse.  I am pretty certain those pilings and the red crane and equipment to the left are for this project, not for I-4: 

 

Corridor to the west of SteelHouse running parallel to the train tracks, with SunRail going by. You can see how the ROW has been staked out for clearing, which they recently started in this area the last couple of weeks: 

Another question is what are they going to do with these utility lines, I assume bury them, but that relocate will need to occur first, and soon if they want to start construction on this segment: 

Corridor to the North of SteelHouse staked out with clearing and demo taking place.  They just took out a bunch of trees and tore down the fence on this corridor: 

Obviously, this work just started, but I will keep posting updates as the work progresses and we see more tangible progress!

Edited April 28, 2017 by dcluley98

[dcluley98]

A couple of more links. Those pilings being driven are indeed for the bridge, which started a couple of months ago.  Trust me, I know, because it shakes the whole frigging building when they drop that weight down.  I thought it was for I-4, but apparently, it was associated with the Colonial Overpass project. I actually feel better now when they shake the building or wake me up with the noise starting at 7 am knowing that it is for the bike path, LOL.  

http://www.cityoforlando.net/publicworks/state-road-50-pedestrian-overpass-bridge/
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2017/3/1/city_wants_to_connec.html
http://www.thedailycity.com/2016/12/the-nine-million-dollar-sidewalk-more.html

Supposed to be done "Fall of 2018" so we will probably have it finished by next Christmas. 

Edited April 28, 2017 by dcluley98

[alex]

Awesome updates! For the corridor north of Steel House--are they creating a brand new path? I always assumed they would use that little stretch of road there.

[dcluley98]

I believe the path will be new and along the easement between the existing access road into SteelHouse garage and the parking lot to the North.  There is existing greenspace there which is basically only used for people to take their dogs out to do the business, haha.  That is where they were cutting down trees and removing the fence. 

[Jernigan]

At first I was like "isn't this in another thread..."

Then I was like "man, Dcluley98 is killing it with this thread!"

Thanks for your thorough contributions 

[sunshine]

Still do not understand why they spend so much money just so that the cars doesn't have to slow down and watch for pedestrians and bikers...

If I live at North Orange and work downtown, and I am riding a bike to work, I would rather just go through Colonial Drive on the surface street than going up hill and down hill, wasted my extra 10 mins of sleep time. I dont need the scenic route.

[Kaz]

This seems more like decor to me. Bikes/runners are still going to cross roads downtown. 

[Jernigan]

I hate pedestrian bridges. I like trails.

This is part of a trail. I hate that the city has called it a pedestrian bridge project.

This won't serve NQ in that regard but it will create a bike expressway from northern College Park and Winter Park.   To me it's not about conveniencing cars, it's about conveniencing cyclists.   

Hope we see a ton of bikes commuting in from the north and a ton of bikes on Orange Avenue from NQ and southern College Park 

[prahaboheme]

^Agree - this does not solve the Colonial / Orange intersection problem, which at some point will need to be addressed.

[dcluley98]

Yeah, I'm just really excited about it because it shows a commitment to the trail system.  I ride the trails a lot and ride the OUT at least once a week.  This will help connect downtown to Ivanhoe Village, Mills 50 Area, Florida Hospital, College Park, and beyond with a full dedicated trail.  They just need to figure out now how to make the connection to the new bridge section to the OUT east of Magnolia by the old Powerhouse building. I use Weber, but it is still a PITA to get across Magnolia there. Likely the best route is to use Marks St because it has lights on Orange and Magnolia that would make it easier to cross, but there isn't a lot of space around Nora and Uptown for a dedicated lane. They should also extend the OUT down Magnolia, taking out the parallel parking and the existing bike line to make a dedicated path separate from traffic.  

Anything involving more trail connectivity is good in my book.  

And thanks, Jernigan!  I know some of this has been covered in other spaces around the forum such as the Downtown Project Discussion, etc., but since construction is now started, I thought it would be good to have a dedicated thread to the project.  It will be ongoing for the next year and a half and will have some direct impacts to downtown.  Although not a building, I think it is a worthy project to follow. 

[WAJAS]

I think this bridge is more for the trail system than to cross the intersection.  The long-term plan is to extend and connect all the parts of the Orlando Urban Trail and Gertrude's Walk to make a long trail.  Also, in the long term plan, they want to connect the Urban Trail to other local trails to make a larger trail system, which will attract bikers and runners downtown. I think they really want to connect it to the Cady Way right now.

[alex]

Speaking of connecting OUT to other trails: I love the new trail on Bumby, but they only added ONE crosswalk along the entire renovated segment. It's not even in a location where people on bikes are likely to use it. I live in the neighborhood and still get lost trying to find Lake Druid Park. 

Colonialtown North has some connectivity issues they need to fix, and it'll take more than a few "Bicycle Friendly Community" signs from the '90s and sharrows on unkept brick streets. 

 

Correction: I guess the crossing is at Illinois. This path isn't bad (orange), but needs signage. Lake Highland is still a bumpy ride, though. 

 

[WAJAS]

15 minutes ago, alex said:

Speaking of connecting OUT to other trails: I love the new trail on Bumby, but they only added ONE crosswalk along the entire renovated segment. It's not even in a location where people on bikes are likely to use it. I live in the neighborhood and still get lost trying to find Lake Druid Park. 

Colonialtown North has some connectivity issues they need to fix, and it'll take more than a few "Bicycle Friendly Community" signs from the '90s and sharrows on unkept brick streets. 

 

Correction: I guess the crossing is at Illinois. This path isn't bad (orange), but needs signage. Lake Highland is still a bumpy ride, though. 

 

 

 

I think there is a higher chance that Virginia Dr. is used as the east-west corridor to the Bumby Trail, which will have an extension east to Lake Druid Park.  That is if the talks of Virginia being turned into a complete street are true. I sure hope they are.

Edited April 28, 2017 by WAJAS98

[AndyPok1]

They added signage to the OUT / Cady Way connection about 2 years ago.  It could use more, but its much easier than when I first tried to follow it.

[sunshine]

Downtown is connected to Lake Ivanhoe already. Fine they can cross Colonial Drive, then what about Washington, Pine, Church St...I just wonder who came out with this idea when this 7 or 8 millions can be used to complete a lot of trails. I am perfectly fine for them to remove one lane of traffic or street parking to create this trail.

[dcluley98]

WAJAS and Andy, that is the route I take at least once a week on my "go to" 20 mile loop.  It is marked the whole way with signs and arrows as the preferred route to get in between the two, but frankly, it sucks.  The Bumby and Hampton crossings are sketchy because Illinois doesn't line up properly on either side of those intersections.  There are speed humps and parked cars on Illinois. Lake Highland drive is a horrible brick street that has parked cars on either side and idiots use it to cut between Mills and Fern Creek, swerving into your lane around parked cars because they don't respect your lane space as a bike. The light at Mills on Lake Highland at Track Shack takes FOREEEEEEEEEEEVER. Other than that, it is still the best route, lol.
 

I am going to try another route next time to see if Marks is any better. :
 

Edited April 28, 2017 by dcluley98

[WAJAS]

1 minute ago, sunshine said:

Downtown is connected to Lake Ivanhoe already. Fine they can cross Colonial Drive, then what about Washington, Pine, Church St...I just wonder who came out with this idea when this 7 or 8 millions can be used to complete a lot of trails. I am perfectly fine for them to remove one lane of traffic or street parking to create this trail.

 

Remember when Buddy mentioned some big plans for bike trails in Orlando, I'm pretty sure that's going to have a much larger budget than you may otherwise think.  I can't seem to remember when he mentioned it, but it was said publicly.  It wasn't officially stated though as it was off-hand.

[dcluley98]

The other biggie is the Greenway Gap between Semoran and Forsyth.  They had plans for a connector along the canal behind Wal-Mart over to the Forsyth side forever ago and have not done anything about it. That is a HUGE need, as it would connect Lake Baldwin Trails, Cady Way trails, and the Greenway all the way out to UCF and up to Cross Seminole in Oviedo. Now you have to get on dangerous Semoran, Hanging Moss, and Forsyth with no bike lanes.  Sucks. I wish they would find some money to prioritize that!
 

[WAJAS]

I'm gonna start a Trails and Bicycle Infrastructure thread.  I'd love to keep talking about all the small gaps that need to be finished and ridiculous length of time it takes to pave these trails.

Edited April 28, 2017 by WAJAS98

[alex]

As soon as you're out of Orlando city limits, the trail's like "figure it out lol." Looking at the map, though, that should be an easy fix. 

While we're at it, two relatively easy connections in that area would be behind the mall (which will hopefully happen with the new apartments) and from the mall to Crystal Lake. They added a piece of trail when they built the new Dick's Sporting Goods on Herndon, which would be a good connection, too, going behind the Party City/Bed Bad & Beyond strip mall. 

[WAJAS]

for non-colonial overpass trail dicussion

[dcluley98]

That would be a good connection.  It hooks up with the path down to Livingston and the Lake Underhill Park trail. 

The Greenway Gap and that area were master planned as priorities for completion back in 2012.  AECOM did a study on it. Then nothing happened, lol. 

Edited April 28, 2017 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

That's so true about the light at Mills/Lake Highland - you could read War & Peace while waiting for that thing *sigh*. I go to Lynn's barber shop right next to Track Shack and when I forget and try to get back to Mills that way, I growl at myself all day.

Edited April 28, 2017 by spenser1058

[codypet]

They need to connect the south leg of Bumby.  The north leg of the trail ends at Colonial.  Then you're riding in Bumby until Concorde I think.  Then a bike lane takes you to Livingston.  Then its a free for all on Bumby until Lake Como Circle.  Then when you get to the circle there's a bike lane, and it doesn't go anywhere.