Orange County on Sidewalk Building Push

The Orange County Commission approved of fifty sidewalk building projects proposed by Mayor Jacobs' transportation planning staff last August, many presently under construction.  The County's press release notes that the sidewalk projects, as well as various roadway and traffic calming projects, "will improve safety at some of Orange County’s most dangerous streets and intersections, which is particularly noteworthy in light of Orlando’s unflattering status as the most dangerous place in the United States for pedestrians, according to a recent survey published by Transportation for America."  Here's a LINK to a list of the sidewalk and other roadway projects. 

Building a new sidewalk in Gotha near the Post Office.

Kids riding their bikes to school on the same street.  The sidewalk, when completed, will make their ride safer.  The  road, too wide for a residential street, induces speeding by motorists. 

Street Design and Your Business, School, and Neighborhood--Public Workshops Tuesday, Feb. 28

I don't normally publish press releases, but this one is inviting West Orange County residents to something very informative and worthwhile....

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National expert to share best practices in street designs that support economic development, safe access to schools, and neighborhood health

(Winter Garden, Fla.) – The public is invited to a series of free workshops that will address how residents and community leaders in West Orange can leverage streets and transportation investments to create places that are more supportive of economic development, active living, neighborhood health and safe access to schools.

Dan Burden, executive director of the national non-profit Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, will share how communities throughout the country and Central Florida are approaching transportation projects as a means to add value to land and improve quality of life for residents and visitors, while moving traffic smoothly and efficiently.

The workshops will explain how traffic-calming measures, road “diets,” intersections, trails, bike lanes, sidewalks and other street design elements affect commercial districts, school areas and residential neighborhoods. Two of the workshops will conclude with optional “walking audits,” during which participants assess nearby streets to identify firsthand some of the barriers to safe, productive streets, and to discuss ways to overcome those barriers. Members of the public are invited to attend one or all of the workshops, which are scheduled as follows:

·         Street Design & Your Business

8:30 to 9:15 a.m. (with optional walking audit until 9:45 a.m.), Tuesday, Feb. 28

City of Winter Garden City Hall, 300 W. Plant Street, Winter Garden, FL

·         Street Design & Your School

2:15 to 3:00 p.m. (with optional walking audit until 3:30 p.m.), Tuesday, Feb. 28

Lake Whitney Elementary School, 1351 Windermere Road, Winter Garden, FL

·         Street Design & Your Neighborhood

6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28

People of Faith Worship Center, 220 Windermere Road (co-located with Children’s Lighthouse, near Roper YMCA and Southwest Aquatics)

The events are free and open to all members of the public, including business operators, homeowners, students and parents, school officials, elected leaders, healthcare providers, municipal staff, consultants, emergency responders, seniors’ representatives, property owners, parks and recreation providers, and more.

“This area is full of opportunities,” Burden said. “We see some places doing it very well, such as downtown Winter Garden and other locations where streets have brought value and quality of life. But we also see places with incredible challenges to overcome. The good news is that there are many examples of how to overcome those challenges, and that’s what I look forward to sharing with folks during the workshops.”

The workshops are supported by the City of Winter Garden, Safe Streets West Orange and the WALC Institute. For more information, email SafeStreetsWestOrange@gmail.com.

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About Dan Burden

Dan Burden, executive director of the WALC Institute, has worked with more than 3,500 communities throughout the world to help them get “back on their feet.” In 2001, he was named by TIME magazine as “one of the six most important civic innovators in the world.”  In 2009, a user’s poll by Planetizen named Dan as one of the Top 100 Urban Thinkers of all time.  His efforts also earned the first-ever lifetime-achievement awards issued by the New Partners for Smart Growth and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. Burden blogs about transportation issues for AARP. His work has been covered by regional and national news organizations, including the Associated Press, NBC Dateline, The Discovery Channel, National Public Radio and more. He served as the principal writer for the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning and Design Curriculum and also served as a main instructor for the National Highway Institute’s course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design.

About the WALC Institute

The WALC Institute is an educational, non-profit organization working to create healthy, connected communities that support active living and that advance opportunities for all people through walkable streets, livable cities and better built environments. The Institute is based in Port Townsend, Wash., and assists communities throughout North America and the world. For more information, visit www.walklive.org, email team@walklive.org or call (360) 385-3421. 

Mayor Jacobs' Vision: "Complete Streets and Place-making"

Mayor Teresa Jacobs articulated a vision for Orange County's future of "complete streets and place-making."  At the Orange County Redevelopment Conference on January 20, she said, "I am working closely with County staff on place-making initiatives that bring mixed use, infill development, sustainability, community revitalization, and other redevelopment concepts to life."  She added, "At the heart of redevelopment is economic development and pride of place that make people want to stay in their community."

The Conference's keynote speakers--Galina Tachieva and Hazel Borys--shared many innovative ideas.   

Galina, director of town planning for the Miami firm, DPZ, is author of the Sprawl Repair Manual.  She said, "We love our downtowns, but a lot of people work in the suburbs so it makes sense to re-balance them."  She spoke of the need for zoning reform. 

Galina advised that slowing traffic and allowing on-street parking are essential elements for place-making.  (This is obvious.  People will sit at an outdoor cafe on Park Avenue, but not on S.R. 17-92).  In Galina's words, "Fast traffic kills real estate."  She urged Orange County to allow the full spectrum of thoroughfares once prevalent in urban areas.  For example, she showed graphics of an arterial or collector highway transforming into a pedestrian-friendly multi-way boulevard.  Such a boulevard separates thorough traffic from slower local traffic and on-street parking. (The County should configure New Independence Parkway, in the Horizon West Town Center, as a multi-way boulevard or avenue with on-street parking). 

Galina showed how a developer could retrofit a dying shopping mall into a desirable urban environment: 

Suburban Mall Retrofit (Galina Tachieva)

She showed precedent for her proposal--Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Here are the images:

Mashpee Commons Today (Galina Tachieva)

Galina said one of Orange County's biggest challenges is the out-migration of young people.  She opined, "The young generation won't stay because of Disney."  Another presentation, by economist Gregg Logan of RCLCO, demonstrated that young people want more urban experiences. 

Hazel Borys, principal and managing director of the firm Placemakers, worked with Canin Associates in developing a form-based code to improve and redevelop Fairbanks and S.R. 17-92 in Winter Park.  (Today I suggested to Mayor Bradley that the City "pull it off the shelf.")

Borys asked the audience of hundrds how many would allow their 7 year olds, if they had one, to walk alone down the street.  Only 20% of the audience raised their hands, which doesn't say much for the safety of thoroughfares we've created.  She said the character of streets must change as they enter into urban areas.  From a governmental viewpoint, she said that a mixed-use mid-rise development will generate 25 times more tax revenue than a suburban Wal-Mart on a per acre basis.  She also linked higher WalkScores to higher home values.

Good Video of Windermere, Winter Garden in "Walkability" Videos

Martin County, Florida released the video below, featuring walkability expert Dan Burden, which includes nice video of Downtown Winter Garden and Downtown Windermere.  Here it is:


Walkable 101: The Basics from Martin County CRA on Vimeo.

Here's the follow-up on Road Diets:


Walkable 101: Road Diets from Martin County CRA on Vimeo.

Orange County Sends Message to Development Community: We Want Infill

Orange County is hosting a conference on infill and redevelopment on Friday, Jan. 20.   The keynote speaker is Galina Tachieva, author of the Sprawl Repair Manual.  Hazel Borys, managing principal of Placemakers, is also slated to speak.  Here's the County's promotional video:

PSA - 2012 Redevelopment Conference

Institute of Transportation Engineers Takes An In-Depth Look at Roundabouts

The Institite of Transportation Engineers' Journal published an in-depth look at roundabouts by Ken Sides, PE, who has built more than 20 roundabouts in the City of Clearwater.  You can find the article at this LINK.

Roundabout constructed next to a school in the City of Clearwater. 

Senators Rubio and Nelson Vote for Complete Streets

During "mark-up" of the Surface Transportation and Freight Policy Act last week in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) joined their colleagues in voting unanimously for an amendment offered by Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) to “ensure that the design of Federal surface transportation projects provides for the safe and adequate accommodation…of all users of the transportation network.”  This key language, promoted by proponents of "Complete Streets," should find its way into the Senate Transportation Bill.   Transportation for America explains:

Under this bill, USDOT will work with states to develop standards to ensure that any surface transportation project built with federal funds provides safe and adequate accommodation for all users. Senator Thune [(R-SD)] offered an amendment to this that would give states discretion as to what is safe and adequate. States have the option of developing their own standards which would then apply instead of the federal standards. This will help states have been leading the way on policies to improve street design.

Thank you, Senators, for looking out for your constituents, young and old.  

Republican Pro-Cycling Bills

Companion Republican pro-cyclist bills are making their way through the Florida legislature this year.  This from biking advocate Mike Lasche:

SB 390, sponsored by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach...would revise the much-reviled “mandatory lane law” which unnecessarily restricts cyclists from leaving the bike lane, even when safety dictates it. With Bogdanoff’s bill, cyclists would be allowed to leave the bike lane if a potential conflict existed. ....  Similar language to SB 390 is included in HB 4017, sponsored by Rep. Ritch Workman, R- Melbourne and SB 1122, a Transportation Committee bill.

Both bills passed the Transportation Committee and were referred to the Budget Committee. This activity, preliminary to the Legislative Session, bodes well for eventual passage of the language in these bills.

UPDATE - MARCH 22, 2012 -- Mike Lasche advises that the Florida legislature passed the legislation which "allows the cyclist to leave the bike lane for any 'potential conflict.'”
It made sense to give cyclists flexibility to leave a bike lane if safety requires, as the video below illustrates:

Rollins Master of Planning Students Look to Portland for the Future of Creative Village

Here's a LINK to the article. 

Ford Exec Chair Calls for Public Transit Investment

Bill Ford, executive chair of the Ford Motor Company, calls for investment in public transit in the video below.  Given the world's exponentially increasing population, he identifies the mathematical impossibility of forever achieving the mobility his great grandfather, Henry Ford, envisioned with automobiles alone.   The technological advances to minimize gridlock, discussed in the video, are quite interesting.