The city of Orlando wants to put one of its roads on a temporary "diet" by closing some of its travel lanes. Sections of Curry Ford Road between Bumby Avenue and Crystal Lake Drive will be the ones that would temporarily close for the testing phase in the next couple of weeks.
ORLANDO, Fla. — VOTE NOW: Is reducing traffic lanes on busy roads a good idea?
During that time, the city will collect information for a couple weeks to see how drivers and pedestrians adjust to the change.
Bicyclist Tim Trask told Eyewitness News that he plans to adjust his bike ride once it happens. Now, he just crosses Curry Ford Road and doesn't take a chance riding on it.
"People are too quick and that's why you get accidents," said Trask.
The volume of traffic is one of the main reasons the city selected the half-mile section of Curry Ford Road.
But in a time when many roads are getting widened in Central Florida, Eyewitness News wanted to know why the city wants to shrink this one. The travel segments on that road are very low compared to the rest of Curry Ford Road, and it almost seems like a step backward.
"Well it depends on the road. It would be considered "backward" if you were taking a road that had 30,000 cars and taking it down to two lanes." said city of Orlando Transportation Director Billy Hattaway.
During the four-week test, one section of the road would also have a mid-block crossing for pedestrians where they could stop if traffic doesn't allow them to continue crossing. The concept is not new to the city.
There are plans to do the same for Robinson Street in the next couple of years. Edgewater Drive was put on a road "diet" more than a decade ago.
"Historically we know taking a four-lane road or a five-lane road will reduce all crashes in the range of 40-45 percent," Hattaway.
However, some drivers weren't too keen on the concept.
“It's just going to make people angry though and then they are going to drive worse” said one driver.
Once the city finishes its testing phase and looks over all the data, it will then decide on whether to move forward on making a permanent change to how people drive through the area.
The city is still finalizing when it will start the program, but it said they plan to have something in place later by the end of March to early April.
Cox Media Group
