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Downtown Orlando Project Discussion


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I-4 is 100% guaranteed to be widened. It's the ramps themselves that are in question.

I visited Orlando last week from Dallas and the traffic on I-4 is absolutely worse than what we have here. Considering the prevalence of toll roads in the area and that this is the only federally funded interstate in an area growing that fast, I think widening to 10 lanes through the entire Orlando metro and updating the interchanges should be a high priority for federal funding. The longer it waits the worse traffic will become when construction starts.

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I visited Orlando last week from Dallas and the traffic on I-4 is absolutely worse than what we have here. Considering the prevalence of toll roads in the area and that this is the only federally funded interstate in an area growing that fast, I think widening to 10 lanes through the entire Orlando metro and updating the interchanges should be a high priority for federal funding. The longer it waits the worse traffic will become when construction starts.

Come on, we're talking about the federal, state and local governments here.

It'll have one lane added to each side in 15 years and traffic will be no different.

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Toll-roads proposal spurs fear of sprawl

Jay Hamburg | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted March 22, 2006

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

I posted this in the "Orlando Headlines" thread...

I loved this headline... "Toll-roads proposal spurs fear of sprawl". The geniuses around here are just starting to fear sprawl? Where the hell were they 20 years ago??!!!???

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I posted this in the "Orlando Headlines" thread...

I loved this headline... "Toll-roads proposal spurs fear of sprawl". The geniuses around here are just starting to fear sprawl? Where the hell were they 20 years ago??!!!???

I think many of the fears are unfounded......The Beeline has been around for 30+ years, yet I do not see a ton of Development between ICP and I-95.......why would development "follow" these roads?

In addition, GROWTH is going to happen in Central Florida, whether is it SPRAWL or INFILL is a matter that is becoming more heated, as people on the outskirts want to limit sprawl, while people in the already developed areas are now attempting to limit higher-density projects.

We can not have it both ways....we will never get our local economy more diversified if we limit overall growth.

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More toll roads.....no mass transit................way to go...

Lets encourage more sprawl.

All these roads are a mess is because of sprawl, building more roads means more sprawl and the same problems will still be there. But by doing this, all the developers and politicians involved become filty rich.

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More toll roads.....no mass transit................way to go...

Lets encourage more sprawl.

All these roads are a mess is because of sprawl, building more roads means more sprawl and the same problems will still be there. But by doing this, all the developers and politicians involved become filty rich.

There's actually a group to encourage mass transit (along with the problems of sprawl and the need to preserve our natural ecosystems) in Central Florida. As soon as I get the paper with all the information from them I will let you all know. I didn't get it because it was handed out at the main campus and I am downtown.

Edited by WeNeed2Progress
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More toll roads.....no mass transit................way to go...

Lets encourage more sprawl.

All these roads are a mess is because of sprawl, building more roads means more sprawl and the same problems will still be there. But by doing this, all the developers and politicians involved become filty rich.

How does Mass Transit alone discourage sprawl?

If a commuter rail line is created from Deland to Downtown....that is surely not going to decrease building and sprawl into Volusia county.....if anything, it may increase.

In addition, with Light Rail only proposed for highly developed areas, (and areas that have recently shunned new development), its only result could be taking the "short distance" drivers off of the road, thereby freeing up more roadspace for long-distance commuters (and increasing sprawl)

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we simply need new roads and wider roads. keeping existing roads narrow to curb unbridled growth makes no sense, since more and more people are moving into the state every year that goes by.

all we should do is look at other metros of similar size and see what they are doing. take Louisville, which is smaller. their highways make ours look like a joke. Take Nashville as well.

this state's approach to limiting new roads and wider roads is flat out illogical, b/c, I still see rows of trucks and semis and SUV's and other autos on the highways.

BTW, Chicago, in all its transit glory, still has a stifling rush hour throughout the city and 'burbs.

we need wider roads.

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we simply need new roads and wider roads. keeping existing roads narrow to curb unbridled growth makes no sense, since more and more people are moving into the state every year that goes by.

all we should do is look at other metros of similar size and see what they are doing. take Louisville, which is smaller. their highways make ours look like a joke. Take Nashville as well.

this state's approach to limiting new roads and wider roads is flat out illogical, b/c, I still see rows of trucks and semis and SUV's and other autos on the highways.

BTW, Chicago, in all its transit glory, still has a stifling rush hour throughout the city and 'burbs.

we need wider roads.

Yea!!!...Someone with some sense. :)

Too many people have the "if we DON'T build it, they WON'T come" attitude.....which is not realistic. Jobs continue to move into Central Florida, as do people....this is not going to stop....it is best to be prepared with plans to allow these people to move around efficiently.....there is not one single solution for the long term, but not investing/re-investing in roads is certainly not the answer.

One thing we REALLY need is a better ITS system to monitor and guide traffic flow (or lack of flow), hwich would take care of a lot of congestion (and road rage)

Read me:

http://www.rcocweb.org/commuter/fasttrac.asp

Edited by speck76
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We need more roads, not wider. Metros with much larger populations do not have the traffic woes of Orlando, and its not because their roads are wider (in fact most of the older, Colonial cities have much narrower roads), its because not only are there more roads in and out of these cities, but they successfully integrated other forms of mass transit.

But, if becoming another Atlanta is our goal, we are doing a great job!

Edited by prahaboheme
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Those toll road are going to go thru undeveloped area which will encourage sprawl in that direction and destroy wet land. With the ease of commute, people will choose to live further away because these highway will bring them into town faster, which encourage commute and sprawl.

If the toll road are built parrellal to I-4, yes it is a good plan and it will help ease the traffic. The new road need to go thru existing communities to join the dots and not create new dots.

City of Orlando still have a lot of land to be redevelop. Increase density in the main core. By main core, I mean the entire Orlando city limits as a general area and not just downtown Orlando. Good mass transit network in the entire Orlando will discourage people from driving. Community along the stations will denistified. When the core is too dense, you build more road to expand and start sattelite city. But American urban development go the opposite way.

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Those toll road are going to go thru undeveloped area which will encourage sprawl in that direction and destroy wet land. With the ease of commute, people will choose to live further away because these highway will bring them into town faster, which encourage commute and sprawl.

Why has this not happened along the Beeline Tollroad?

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Because there aren't many exits. If you cannot get off the highway, you're not home.

And are these new toll road going to be filled with exits? (or are we over-reacting)

If their was such demand for land between here and the coast, would exits not have been built on the Beeline to appease this development, much like they have been added to other highways and tollroads in the region?

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I had an idea and another forumer also mentioned it too-- build an expressway along JYP from Lee Road to JYP and down to I-4 as a bypass to I-4.

We DO need wider roads. I know the whole northern older city comparison and I agree, but we are not a grid like Chicago where major roads are every mile, secondary roads every 1/2 mile, and feeder streets every few hunderd feet.

if I-4 was 5 contiguous lanes in each direction there would be less backups b/c of bottlenecks from lanes ending at exits.

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How does Mass Transit alone discourage sprawl?

If a commuter rail line is created from Deland to Downtown....that is surely not going to decrease building and sprawl into Volusia county.....if anything, it may increase.

In addition, with Light Rail only proposed for highly developed areas, (and areas that have recently shunned new development), its only result could be taking the "short distance" drivers off of the road, thereby freeing up more roadspace for long-distance commuters (and increasing sprawl)

In regard to traffic and mass transit, the population is only going to continue to grow. Mas transit will help to alleviate the traffic from those who choose to use it instead of the highways. The traffic will continue, no matter how many lanes you add. If there is no mass transit, it is only going to get worse. In a matter of years MCO will have so much air traffic from international flights that they will discontinue flights to say Miami or Tampa. This only contributes to the highway traffic from those having to travel to other Florida cities. With high-speed rail, there will be an alternative that may indeed help take highway travelers away.

As far as light rail and developed areas, that's fine. They're already developed. But by blocking sprawl by preservation, it can only go so far.

I like your icon btw!

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In regard to traffic and mass transit, the population is only going to continue to grow. Mas transit will help to alleviate the traffic from those who choose to use it instead of the highways. The traffic will continue, no matter how many lanes you add. If there is no mass transit, it is only going to get worse. In a matter of years MCO will have so much air traffic from international flights that they will discontinue flights to say Miami or Tampa. This only contributes to the highway traffic from those having to travel to other Florida cities. With high-speed rail, there will be an alternative that may indeed help take highway travelers away.

As far as light rail and developed areas, that's fine. They're already developed. But by blocking sprawl by preservation, it can only go so far.

I like your icon btw!

Thanks

The airport is nowhere near capacity.....in addition, the plan is to build a second terminal building when the airport is at around 90% of capacity (expected to be around 2014 or so)

MCO has 4 runways......most airports have 2, sometimes 3....MCO is safe, and well prepared for the future (hey....Orlando did some planning right)

I think the current "additional lane" on I-4 is a mistake.....they need to make it 5 lanes from Deland to Polk County, and the rest should be 4......why waste money on something that is going to need to be expanded around the time it is done. (and then spend the money again).

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Thanks

The airport is nowhere near capacity.....in addition, the plan is to build a second terminal building when the airport is at around 90% of capacity (expected to be around 2014 or so)

MCO has 4 runways......most airports have 2, sometimes 3....MCO is safe, and well prepared for the future (hey....Orlando did some planning right)

I think the current "additional lane" on I-4 is a mistake.....they need to make it 5 lanes from Deland to Polk County, and the rest should be 4......why waste money on something that is going to need to be expanded around the time it is done. (and then spend the money again).

I totally agree with you that MCO was planned with the correct vision. However, there is supposed to be an increase in flights, even with additional runways and terminal, from international and national that intra-state flights won't be likely. These are figures that were shown to me in this presentation so I'm reporting what I was shown. Here's to MCO for surpassing Miami International with passengers!

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Good mass transit network in the entire Orlando will discourage people from driving.

Exactly. Commuter rail isn't needed. A rail system that runs around the full city is needed. A core in Orlando downtown with branches going up HWY50 to UCF/Waterford, Down HWY50 to Ocoee, Across on I-4 to Altamonte Springs and the other way on I-4 to Disney with a branch to the airport.

It's a huge undertaking, but unless it's built, our traffic troubles will be here forever.

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