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Jernigan

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I have ridden it many times.  The speed of cars is not really an issue.  The number of intersections are.  Having a green lane that extends across the intersections can alert drivers to look out for cyclists when they are turning.  I have had more problems with pedestrians and parked cars on that stretch than the actual moving traffic. Getting doored by one of the parallel parked cars or some oblivious person, texter, drunk, or nutjob stepping into the lane are the biggest problems around there.

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35 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

I have ridden it many times.  The speed of cars is not really an issue.  The number of intersections are.  Having a green lane that extends across the intersections can alert drivers to look out for cyclists when they are turning.  I have had more problems with pedestrians and parked cars on that stretch than the actual moving traffic. Getting doored by one of the parallel parked cars or some oblivious person, texter, drunk, or nutjob stepping into the lane are the biggest problems around there.

Good point, I hadn't considered the parking spots along Rosalind. That would be stressful.

Either way, glad to see the city actually taking steps to making the city navigable by people not in cars. This all helps to make downtown better.

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If you aren't too timid to look out for your safety, you'll move into the right travel lane when there are parked cars.   The law allows you to leave the bike lane if there are safety hazards.   A door swinging open is more of a potential hazard than debris.   

 

Of course youll still probably get pulled over by an OPD bike officer illegally riding on the sidewalk 

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I know it is technically safer to take the lane in those situations, but in practice, not so much.  You kinda are just stuck with your head on a swivel in that situation there. Really, they designed the damn thing backwards because they didn't want to do the work or didn't have the money to do it right, which would be the bike lane on the lake side of the parallel parking, separated from the traffic with a curb or barrier and then the parked cars.

Ei:      Roadway - Parking spaces - Curb/barrier - Bike lane - Curb - Sidewalk - Grass.

 

Protected bike lane.jpg

Protected Bike Lane with Driveways.jpg

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I know I'm in the minority on here, but I'm easy to please.  We have a bike lane on Rosalind, I use it often.  Let's care more about getting more of them, quality be damned.  Yes, I'd prefer an isolated one, but I'd rather have an unprotected one rather than non at all (eg going to SoDo... I either take back roads through the hospital, or go straight down Division or Orange.  None of which are good solutions.

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I've said it before but the city should just do away with that single car lane on Magnolia/Lymmo route and turn it into a two way bike path. So at least from Livingston to South street you can have an alternative to Orange and Rosalind in Downtown, and won't have to worry about being doored.

As for Downtown south, I'd like to see the Orlando Urban Trail extended as far south as Michigan street, maybe SoDo, but at a minimum reach the Amtrak station and ORMC; probably running alongside the train tracks or running along the future Boone Ave extension, Sylvia Lane, Franklin Lane, and finally Sligh Blvd. It's possible to link all these segments into a continuous street as an alternative to Division and Orange, the biggest obstacle being Thomas Lumber if the owner doesn't want to sell a chunk of the property for new ROW. I believe some of these things were addressed in the Downtown South vision plan, make a more coherent grid in Downtown South to spur more development.

If all the right pieces fell into place (urban trail extension, bridge over Colonial, Lynx Central Station segment, Gertrude's walk, extension of the trail further south), imagine a future where you can take the urban trail from the Loch Haven area, to Downtown, and down to SoDo, it would be a real game changer.

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On 11/3/2016 at 7:51 AM, HankStrong said:

I'm a little sad that this far in we haven't heard a peep about expansion beyond the N/S corridor and the piece to the airport.  Specifically, that we haven't even heard about planning in that regard.

The Orange Blossom piece & the TRAIN OF THE FUTURE maglev weren't even part of the SunRail package, but more like that sort of thing. 

 

Wish list for further phases:

  • SunRail connecting UCF campuses - Downtown/East Orlando/Lake Nona  (the current generation of college students is the most open to this sort of travel that we've seen in 50+ years)
  • Spurs connecting some established areas to the line (Poinciana proper, Conway, Winter Garden, downtown Sanford, I-Drive, the ever-volatile talk about the theme parks)
  • Daytona/Daytona Beach, I know they have to wait until the DeLand/DeBary connection happens (if/when) but this would be a major triumph.  Can you imagine being down on the South end of Orlando and taking a train to the speedway????
  • Eventually connecting to a Tampa system with transfer service.

 

Maglev is dead.   Don't expect a Tampa train until the 2030s.  Spurs through town wont happen due to a lack of continuous line through the area.  Something is in the works though that will make Nona less of an island.  UCF will remain an island.

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Tend to agree.   The OBX line to Apopka is the next low hanging fruit and really needs to happen.   It would provide a commute connection between Orange County's largest and 2nd largest cities.   Pushing further north into Lake County would be nice but by all means get the train to Apopka.

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12 hours ago, codypet said:

Maglev is dead.   Don't expect a Tampa train until the 2030s.  Spurs through town wont happen due to a lack of continuous line through the area.  Something is in the works though that will make Nona less of an island.  UCF will remain an island.

Maglev being dead is why I called it THE TRAIN OF THE FUTURE!!!  That was sarcasm on my part, sorry it didn't convey.

 

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No word on the Orange Blossom Express for a long time now. The good news is that the track along most, if not all, of the proposed OBX route has recently been upgraded/repaired so installing a commuter line won't be as large of an expense. The bad news is that the ridership study returned numbers that didn't look too promising. Either way, this should be the next focus after SunRail phase II and the airport spur are completed.

A true east-west commuter line would probably be the most expensive transportation project ever undertaken in the Central FL region. I'm hoping for a line that at least connects Winter Garden to Downtown Orlando to UCF. The cheapest options for an effective line are Colonial Drive or the 408. For the 408, a line can run in the median. For a route along Colonial, the best option is a partially or entirely elevated line, just like what is done in Miami with Metrorail running along South Dixie Highway, but will be a complicated affair in the Downtown stretch of Colonial where the road narrows to 5 lanes. Just throwing suggestions out there.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

This probably won't change anything tomorrow but Gov. Rick Scott has signed HB299 making Brevard County part of the Central FL Expressway Authority. Slowly but surely their amazing infrastructure is going to become a more integral part of the region.

I'm also guessing that their extra vote will eventually speed up the extension of the East-West (FL408) to I-95.

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More on this from Florida politics.com:

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/239387-brevard-county-join-central-florida-expressway-authority

I like the mention of greater interdependence between the Space Coast and Orlando. It doesn't really matter, but it's fun to dream of adding Brevard's half million or so folks to the MSA and, ummmm, rocketing us into the top 20 without breaking a sweat.

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13 hours ago, Jernigan said:

LYNX is rolling out real time tracking on all of its buses.   This is only in testing but you can download the Doublemap app from the App Store to use it.   Not all buses are outfitted but it's pretty reliable for LYMMO

This was originally supposed to debut in a new Lynx/Sunrail app on the App Store.  Is that still happening?

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LYNX is working towards that app once everything is working.   If SunRail is a part of that, then it's because they jumped on board.  They've historically been okay without having one.  I can't say I blame them.   They don't really need real time tracking for one route that doesn't deal with traffic.  They just need to be able to communicate when things go wrong.   

LYNX is also testing a mobile payment system to a test group right now.   The implications of this for both LYNX and SunRail are huge for everything from a regional pass, better transfers and an easier system for employers offering transit benefits to employees.

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52 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

LYNX is working towards that app once everything is working.   If SunRail is a part of that, then it's because they jumped on board.  They've historically been okay without having one.  I can't say I blame them.   They don't really need real time tracking for one route that doesn't deal with traffic.  They just need to be able to communicate when things go wrong.   

LYNX is also testing a mobile payment system to a test group right now.   The implications of this for both LYNX and SunRail are huge for everything from a regional pass, better transfers and an easier system for employers offering transit benefits to employees.

I've seen the app, its really cool. They're a bit behind but I think it's supposed to be hitting the public in July. 

20170503_145842.jpg

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21 hours ago, Jernigan said:

LYNX is working towards that app once everything is working.   If SunRail is a part of that, then it's because they jumped on board.  They've historically been okay without having one.  I can't say I blame them.   They don't really need real time tracking for one route that doesn't deal with traffic.  They just need to be able to communicate when things go wrong.   

LYNX is also testing a mobile payment system to a test group right now.   The implications of this for both LYNX and SunRail are huge for everything from a regional pass, better transfers and an easier system for employers offering transit benefits to employees.

According to the Riding the Rail blog, (posted on April 11, 2017)

Quote

 

On Tuesday at SunRail’s Technical Advisory Committee meeting Nicola Liquori, SunRail’s new CEO, announced that the commuter rail line is currently developing an app and hoped to launch it soon.
 
While we’re on the topic of technology, Ms. Liquori also announced that earlier this month SunRail launched a free text service riders can subscribe to for text alerts when there are service interruptions. Just text “Sunrail” to 31996 for this very useful service.

 

And I heard from someone else that Sunrail was trying to jump on board the Lynx app development.  Sunrail already has real-time tracking through their website.

 

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