Central FL Roads and Highways

[aent]

3 hours ago, Uncommon said:

The definition of reckless driving is far too arbitrary though.

I’d like to see something like a “speed range” used on highways. All drivers must stay within two speeds, say 50 and 80mph under normal driving conditions on all lanes (excluding on or off ramps, emergency situations, etc.). One mile per hour above or below this range would incur a hefty ticket, and continue to escalate with each mph.

That actually is Florida's law (minus hefty tickets). Unless traffic conditions don't permit or there is an advisory speed, you must be travelling between 15mph under the speed limit and the speed limit. If a highway is signed 70mph and you don't maintain 55mph you can get a ticket for that.

[AmIReal]

Question for the road engineers...

I see the Sylvia Ln realignment and construction is moving along quickly. This will tie into Boone Av at Anderson and run beside the OUC building, south to America St, where it dead ends. I assume the plan is to jog traffic over to S. Hughey and then to the lighted intersection at Gore. I heard previously the sidewalks would be widened to 10 feet along Sylvia in order to continue the bike path to Division (I also see the City is moving forward with the path from Division to Michigan  sometime this year). 

My question... is Sylvia Ln going to be two way traffic? Will this serve as another route into downtown from SoDo? I have not been able to find the plans for this road.

[codypet]

4 hours ago, AmIReal said:

Question for the road engineers...

I see the Sylvia Ln realignment and construction is moving along quickly. This will tie into Boone Av at Anderson and run beside the OUC building, south to America St, where it dead ends. I assume the plan is to jog traffic over to S. Hughey and then to the lighted intersection at Gore. I heard previously the sidewalks would be widened to 10 feet along Sylvia in order to continue the bike path to Division (I also see the City is moving forward with the path from Division to Michigan  sometime this year). 

My question... is Sylvia Ln going to be two way traffic? Will this serve as another route into downtown from SoDo? I have not been able to find the plans for this road.

My understanding is it will be two way.

Edited March 1, 2021 by codypet

[AmIReal]

11 hours ago, codypet said:

My understanding is it will be two way.

Excellent. Thanks for the graphic.

[AmIReal]

WE'RE NUMBER 1!!!!! Again.

"The Orlando area continues to lock down its rank as the most dangerous place in the nation for pedestrians."

"The Orlando metro area, spanning Sanford and Kissimmee, had 740 pedestrian deaths from 2010 to 2019."

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-prem-orlando-deadliest-pedestrians-again-20210310-cpboh7uyenhxzlqa5vnooj6rxe-story.html

 

[TRENCH]

On 3/10/2021 at 7:32 AM, AmIReal said:

WE'RE NUMBER 1!!!!! Again.

"The Orlando area continues to lock down its rank as the most dangerous place in the nation for pedestrians."

"The Orlando metro area, spanning Sanford and Kissimmee, had 740 pedestrian deaths from 2010 to 2019."

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-prem-orlando-deadliest-pedestrians-again-20210310-cpboh7uyenhxzlqa5vnooj6rxe-story.html

its unfortunate... especially when both sides are at fault. Drivers in here are the worst while pedestrians love to jaywalk. On OBT for example, they placed two special crosswalks with stop lights & everything, and people still rather cross in the middle of the road WITH incoming traffic than walk an extra 10 steps to that crosswalk. At the same time drivers in here have an obsession with not waiting for pedestrians to cross the road (with right of way ) when they are turning a street 

[codypet]

4 hours ago, W7edwin said:

its unfortunate... especially when both sides are at fault. Drivers in here are the worst while pedestrians love to jaywalk. On OBT for example, they placed two special crosswalks with stop lights & everything, and people still rather cross in the middle of the road WITH incoming traffic than walk an extra 10 steps to that crosswalk. At the same time drivers in here have an obsession with not waiting for pedestrians to cross the road (with right of way ) when they are turning a street 

So literally this?

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1326163367765129

Edited March 12, 2021 by codypet

[TRENCH]

On 3/11/2021 at 10:22 PM, codypet said:

So literally this?

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1326163367765129

yeah!... except he's walking too carefully and the cars are not going 70 mph 

 

 

[nite owℓ]

W Robinson & N Garland I4 overpass update.

Seemed much brighter driving under there (for now) and the new pillars are a nice touch. I also noticed the pallets of bricks so it seems like they will incorporate some sort of decorative pathway or parking pad as well.

Before:

 

In progress:

 

[codypet]

Its a lot higher now which helps with the lighting.  Are they putting the parking under there back?

[spenser1058]

6 minutes ago, codypet said:

Its a lot higher now which helps with the lighting.  Are they putting the parking under there back?

They just need to paint it pink. @prahaboheme loves the painted concrete look *runs and hides*.

Edited March 17, 2021 by spenser1058

[nite owℓ]

18 hours ago, codypet said:

Its a lot higher now which helps with the lighting.  Are they putting the parking under there back?

IDK, I'd imagine they would restore the small parking nook underneath--I can't see them overtaking the space as another pass-through on Robinson, but what do I know. I haven't seen any site plans and I find this stuff confusing.

You would think the overpass is much higher here (I know other areas were raised), but it's pretty much the same height as before since the clearance here was already pretty high. Google street view shows the new & old sections side-by-side: https://goo.gl/maps/43ZeghPpHAvFerb79. I think it's just brighter because all of the overhead sections haven't been filled in yet? IDK...

[codypet]

51 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

IDK, I'd imagine they would restore the small parking nook underneath--I can't see them overtaking the space as another pass-through on Robinson, but what do I know. I haven't seen any site plans and I find this stuff confusing.

You would think the overpass is much higher here (I know other areas were raised), but it's pretty much the same height as before since the clearance here was already pretty high. Google street view shows the new & old sections side-by-side: https://goo.gl/maps/43ZeghPpHAvFerb79. I think it's just brighter because all of the overhead sections haven't been filled in yet? IDK...

I didn't realize that, but you're right, EB appears to be at the same level but WB is higher.  Also the direct connect from 408 is flying over the WB lanes to that's even higher in the center.  So there will still be a good amount of light there.

I think the parking is gone.  The pier sits roughly where they parking used to be and looking at the new curb, it seems there's no new driveway planned.  Also the parking would need to be on the RxR side of the bridge and we know how much RxRs love when the public has easy access to the R/W

[uncreativeusername]

2 hours ago, nite owℓ said:

I think it's just brighter because all of the overhead sections haven't been filled in yet? IDK...

I would say it is also in part due to the change from sloped to vertical walls - the old sloped walls created huge shadows. 

[spenser1058]

OC has identified a number of streets and roads in the unincorporated county and in local cities that may have been named for Confederate officers or supporters. It is reviewing whether name changes  will be appropriate:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-orange-renaming-streets-confederacy-20210323-iox4fkbzr5hwbdngvyr7wabkq4-story.html

From The Sentinel 

[codypet]

Interesting that they were able to trace the Kirby Smith name to a resident in the area so its not directly named after the general.

[smileguy]

On 3/1/2021 at 8:58 AM, AmIReal said:

Excellent. Thanks for the graphic.

I passed night work on Sylvia Ln. this earlier this week, and it looks like they're paving. 

An item from an upcoming MPB meeting, so the new road will still be Boone.
Change two street names, from Sylvia Ln. to Boone Ave. (between America St. north to Garland Ave.) and from S. Garland Ave. to Sylvia Ln. (from City Hall garage south to Boone Ave. extension).

[codypet]

5 hours ago, smileguy said:

I passed night work on Sylvia Ln. this earlier this week, and it looks like they're paving. 

An item from an upcoming MPB meeting, so the new road will still be Boone.
Change two street names, from Sylvia Ln. to Boone Ave. (between America St. north to Garland Ave.) and from S. Garland Ave. to Sylvia Ln. (from City Hall garage south to Boone Ave. extension).

Dibs on the brand new sign then.

[Jerry95]

On 2/8/2021 at 7:03 PM, spenser1058 said:

60mph speed limit likely coming to 12-mile stretch of the East-West Expressway (FL408) through downtown:

Raise speed limit to 60 mph on S.R. 408 through downtown Orlando? It will ease road rage and crashes, authorities say
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-prem-ne-408-55-to-60-proposal-20210208-qjlf4hsk4jgijfbyhfbvutthqy-story.html

From The Sentinel 

 

Traveling WB on 408 I noticed a new 60mph sign just before Exit 11/I-4. Those 4 months flew by!

[EngineerNole]

On 2/17/2021 at 6:03 PM, Uncommon said:

The definition of reckless driving is far too arbitrary though.

I’d like to see something like a “speed range” used on highways. All drivers must stay within two speeds, say 50 and 80mph under normal driving conditions on all lanes (excluding on or off ramps, emergency situations, etc.). One mile per hour above or below this range would incur a hefty ticket, and continue to escalate with each mph.

They already have speed ranges.  A speed limit and a minimum speed (usually 40 mph) on interstates.  And I strongly disagree with this.  Now, there is a safety concern regarding curves especially.  Roads are actually designed for speeds.  For example, curves on a 70 mph posted highway are much more gradual than on a residential street.  I don’t like the idea of a hefty fine as soon as you increase to 1 mph over a speed limit, though.  That’s unreasonable.

Edited June 25, 2021 by EngineerNole

[jrs2]

On 3/10/2021 at 7:32 AM, AmIReal said:

WE'RE NUMBER 1!!!!! Again.

"The Orlando area continues to lock down its rank as the most dangerous place in the nation for pedestrians."

"The Orlando metro area, spanning Sanford and Kissimmee, had 740 pedestrian deaths from 2010 to 2019."

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-prem-orlando-deadliest-pedestrians-again-20210310-cpboh7uyenhxzlqa5vnooj6rxe-story.html

 

that's terrible.  the government should just confiscate all peoples' legs; not just the jay walkers.  because none of them can be trusted to use their legs appropriately around streets and sidewalks.

[aent]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:25 PM, EngineerNole said:

They already have speed ranges.  A speed limit and a minimum speed (usually 40 mph) on interstates.  And I strongly disagree with this.  Now, there is a safety concern regarding curves especially.  Roads are actually designed for speeds.  For example, curves on a 70 mph posted highway are much more gradual than on a residential street.  I don’t like the idea of a hefty fine as soon as you increase to 1 mph over a speed limit, though.  That’s unreasonable.

Florida increased the minimum speeds a few years back. The minimum speed (assuming no traffic of course) is now set to 15mph below the maximum speed on all roads throughout the state. So on an interstate set to 70mph, the minimum is 55mph so the acceptable range is 55-70mph by state law.

[spenser1058]

Let’s hear it for CFX - they’re moving the E-Pass Service Center TO 525 S. Magnolia  downtown and closing up shop in the strip center on Goldenrod Rd. I like that.

[codypet]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Let’s hear it for CFX - they’re moving the E-Pass Service Center TO 525 S. Magnolia  downtown and closing up shop in the strip center on Goldenrod Rd. I like that.

Moving from a building you're leasing to a building you already own.  Since the OB moved out and they don't appear to be leasing space, it makes sense to me.

[AndyPok1]

I will say, I never realized that Magnolia is getting a dedicated connection from the causeway as you come up Orange.  I imagine it won't be practical much of the time, since DPAC will close it down a lot, but if it's ever open, that will help alleviate traffic on Rosalind.