Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[sunshine]

I-4 getting $300M for widening

By Scott Powers and Jason Garcia | Sentinel Staff Writers

Posted November 2, 2005, 4:11 PM EST

Interstate 4 and the proposed Central Florida commuter train were among the state's big winners when Gov. Jeb Bush announced new state grants today to jump-start key transportation construction projects around Florida.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...-home-headlines

[sunshine]

State transportation improvement funding to aid 3 C. Fla. projects

As part of Florida's sweeping growth management reforms signed into law last June, Gov. Jeb Bush has unveiled $3.1 billion in transportation improvements.

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/sto...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

[Dale]

Man ! i thought you guys would be all over this like urbanists at an IKEA opening.

[go_vertical]

I seem to remember reading a post a little while back that the plans to add toll lanse on I-4 were scrapped. Is this true? Also, with two more lanes in each direction it would seem that the interstate would "hover" over Garland Ave. to the east and Hughey Ave. to the west. Am I correct in thinking that? If everyone thinks I-4 is a behemoth slicing through downtown now, wait until this gets completed.

[sunshine]

I remember the highway toward NYC are at least 12 or 16 lanes. Compared to that I-4 is not that huge.

[go_vertical]

Well, with the addition of two lanes in each direction I-4 will be at least 12 lanes through downtown. If you add in egress lanes in some spots that number rises to 13 or 14. Thats almost the same as I 75/85 through downtown Atlanta.

[otowner]

just out of curiosity, how much money do you think it would take to buy the Florida Turnpike?

what about the 408, 417, 429 and 528?

[Brickell]

Are there any maps out there of Central Florida roadway improvement plans?

Also, any more infomation on the 429 and western disney access road?

Edited November 7, 2005 by Brickell

[Topher1]

Are there any maps out there of Central Florida roadway improvement plans?

Also, any more infomation on the 429 and western disney access road?

The best place to find info on Orange County toll roads is the Expressway Authority website.

http://www.expresswayauthority.com/futureplans/projects.html

Pretty much all of the future I-4 improvements through Central Florida are covered on trans4mation.org.

http://www.trans4mation.org/fdot/index/trans4mation.home

[depechecureguyorl]

Also, any more infomation on the 429 and western disney access road?

The southern route from the Turnpike to US Hwy 192 in Osceola County is under construction and should be finished by early 2006. The final leg connecting it to I4 in Osceola is being built by the Turnpike Enterprise and should be finished by late 2006. Disney is privately building a western access road from the 429, but I don't know exactly where on Disney property it will be. I'm assuming an extension from the Animal Kingdom access road, but I could be wrong.

The ultimate and final leg of 429 from US Hwy 441 in Apopka to I-4 in Sanford is still going thru land acquisitions (after a lot of local opposition) and I have not heard a timetable on when construction should begin. I did hear that the first segment going west from I4 in Sanford to SR 46 near Mt. Plymouth will be a freeway into Lake county then turn into a tollroad entering Orange county down to meet the existing 429 in Apopka.

Edited November 7, 2005 by depechecureguyorl

[sunshine]

Orlando ponders parking

Officials want a downtown traffic plan that fits growth.

Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted November 7, 2005

Come downtown, but please consider leaving your car at home.

A subtle version of that message could emerge in the next few years as Orlando planners prepare for a traffic and parking crunch prompted by a host of new condo, office and retail projects.

Raising the price of downtown parking or limiting parking spaces could be tools that city officials use to coax people into riding buses or a proposed commuter train, carpooling, walking or bicycling.

City officials don't want to make parking so expensive or so much of a hassle that people don't want to come downtown. But if parking continues to be cheap and easy, public transportation may look like a bad deal in comparison.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...=orl-home-promo

[Brickell]

Thanks Topher and Depeche. That clears things up about. I was up in West Orange this weekend and was floored by the suburban development out there. I'm really intringued by the I75/turnpike/429/Disney setup. Could we see a new hotel/entertainment zone develop on that side?

[depechecureguyorl]

^ IMO, I don't see a new entertainment zone on the west side as there is still plenty of unused land in the I-Drive/192 area on the south side of town.

I think more residential/commercial development will follow on the west side once this highway is finished. It's a trend that started on the east side of Orlando back in the 90's with the completion of the 417/Greenway. Back then, when I was going to UCF, there were miles of trees & pasture land. Now it's morphed into a relative CITY. That trend will continue on the westside in Ocoee, Winter Garden, Clermont, etc. A "town centre" is being planned in Winter Garden in what is now farmland and an upscale mall is being planned in Clermont, also on what is now farmland.

[WeNeed2Progress]

Thanks Topher and Depeche. That clears things up about. I was up in West Orange this weekend and was floored by the suburban development out there. I'm really intringued by the I75/turnpike/429/Disney setup. Could we see a new hotel/entertainment zone develop on that side?

Apparently (from what I've been told, so please don't shoot me if I'm incorrect) the extension is going to dump onto Buena Vista Drive near the Coronado Springs Resort. Yes, I'm aware that that Buena Vista Drive area is unlikely, however it is also a pretty dead area so perhaps that is why. Don't forget Coronado Springs is also a successful convention resort. Also, along the route Disney has been clearing acres of land... moreso than needed for only the road extension. Speculation (though I highly doubt it is that it is possible for a new park. It was suggested that long before DAK was announced, they had already begun the land clearing and not just for Osceola Parkway.

We shall see.

Edited November 8, 2005 by WeNeed2Progress

[sunshine]

Wekiva Parkway plan starts to firm up

But critics wonder about the road's cost and effect on homes and state land.

Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted November 12, 2005

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...-home-headlines

-----------------------------

They would spend 1.2 billons for a stupid highway but not on a lightrail.

Apparently (from what I've been told, so please don't shoot me if I'm incorrect) the extension is going to dump onto Buena Vista Drive near the Coronado Springs Resort. Yes, I'm aware that that Buena Vista Drive area is unlikely, however it is also a pretty dead area so perhaps that is why. Don't forget Coronado Springs is also a successful convention resort. Also, along the route Disney has been clearing acres of land... moreso than needed for only the road extension. Speculation (though I highly doubt it is that it is possible for a new park. It was suggested that long before DAK was announced, they had already begun the land clearing and not just for Osceola Parkway.

We shall see.

A new park would be awesome.

[WeNeed2Progress]

-----------------------------

They would spend 1.2 billons for a stupid highway but not on a lightrail.

A new park would be awesome.

[JRS1]

they got Lake County to agree to the road by making it a freeway on that northern E-W stretch.

[depechecureguyorl]

^ Hmm...Kind of makes me wish that Orange County would have stalled the process too.

[EbonyGardens]

^ IMO, I don't see a new entertainment zone on the west side as there is still plenty of unused land in the I-Drive/192 area on the south side of town.

I think more residential/commercial development will follow on the west side once this highway is finished. It's a trend that started on the east side of Orlando back in the 90's with the completion of the 417/Greenway. Back then, when I was going to UCF, there were miles of trees & pasture land. Now it's morphed into a relative CITY. That trend will continue on the westside in Ocoee, Winter Garden, Clermont, etc. A "town centre" is being planned in Winter Garden in what is now farmland and an upscale mall is being planned in Clermont, also on what is now farmland.

I never knew there was unused land on I-Drive. When I was in Orlando earlier this year, I saw nothing but action on that 3 mile road. Any plans of what the city is gonna do with the unusued land on I-Drive/192?

[depechecureguyorl]

^ You most likely saw the urbanized north end of Idrive from Kirkman (Universal/Wet n Wild area) south to the convention center. I was referring to the extreme south end, past Sea World. That area is poised for more high rise hotels and timeshare resorts.

[EbonyGardens]

^That's the part of I-Drive I'm accustomed to.

[JRS1]

I-Drive/192 is I-Drive South, the Osceola segment ala Xentury City that does not connect to our I-Drive. It ends at 535, or where Balari may be built near Caribe Royale. Both sements (as mentioned earlier) have huge tracts of undeveloped land (which is an understatement).

[otowner]

Is the SR429 expansion from 535 down to I4 completed and open to traffic now?

[UPSDAN]

Is the SR429 expansion from 535 down to I4 completed and open to traffic now?

no

[facilities man]

Is the SR429 expansion from 535 down to I4 completed and open to traffic now?

429 is supposed to be open to 192 by the end of this month and then open to I-4 by the end of 2006.