ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Some families who live near Oak Ridge Road southwest of Orlando say a project designed to improve their roads has made them worse.
Denise George, who lives in Bonnie Brook, reached out to News 6 to voice her frustrations with the traffic on Oak Ridge Road between Orange Blossom Trail and Millenia Boulevard.
“If you want to get from point A to point B, you have to go west to find a U-turn area to go east,” George said.
George spoke to commissioners about the problem at a Nov. 28 meeting in Orange County.
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She said the design has created more traffic in the area.
“It’s been a nightmare design all the way down,” said George. “Businesses are suffering. We’ve got a business over here, she has lost all of her money during lunch because people are not driving down here.”
George believes it’s not just an inconvenience — it’s also a safety issue, especially when during school pick-up and drop-off.
“This is where the children cross. So when people are U-turning, our crossing guards and the kids are literally being grazed by the cars turning right up against them,” said George. “We’re told by the county this is a beautiful design, but we’re living it 24/7.”
Orange County re-designed the corridor with safety in mind. News 6 asked the public works department to share the study that was done in 2017 that resulted in recommendations to add raised medians, dedicated left turn lanes, and other improvements.
Crash data from January 2013 to December 2015 included a total of 52 crashes. 31 were reported as pedestrian crashes, and 21 as bicycle crashes, according to the study.
Commissioner Mike Scott says the project began before he was elected, but he believes safety is the priority.
“No matter how inconvenient or undesirable, nothing should be more important than safety,” Scott said.
Scott said he heard concerns from a group of neighbors.
“There were no medians before,” said Scott. “You would have folks who don’t want to wait in line go straight through.”
News 6 asked George what she believes the solution is.
“Tear it out and put it back the way it was,” said George.
“I’ve heard some of those same concerns, and it isn’t a possibility,” said Commissioner Scott. “This project, as I understand it, was eight years in the making. They had a number of community meetings... It just wouldn’t be the best use of the public dollar when you spent millions of dollars several years in planning just to start from scratch.”
News 6 also asked Scott what could reasonably be done.
“You know, there were turns that were obstructed by the median, and we’re able to maybe restore some of those turns that kind of blocked off certain access to certain neighborhoods,” said Scott. “But there are certain standards from state (Department of Transportation) and federal DOT that we have to meet.”
There is a community meeting at Sadler Elementary on Feb. 7 from 6:30 - 8:30p.m. Scott said he hopes the upcoming meeting will be a chance for everyone to meet in the middle.
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