The $75,000 Curry Ford Road

Orlando analysis highlights trade-offs in Curry Ford test

experiment to reduce vehicle lanes in April was roundly criticized by Orlando drivers, yet city officials say it may be a catalyst in “building our city around people rather than cars.”

The Curry Ford Road diet in April was done hastily, and the public’s response was largely hostile, but Orlando officials said the effort may be a catalyst in “building our city around people rather than cars.”

The city’s transportation department compiled a “technical memorandum” with analysis of the Curry Ford remake from April 9 to May 3 between Bumby Avenue and Crystal Lake Drive.

That half-mile stretch of road was reduced from five car lanes to three, making room for bike lanes on both sides of the east-west corridor a mile south of State Road 408.

The route is lined with small businesses, a brewery and restaurants, and abutted by quiet streets and homes.

“This was an important project from a learning standpoint,” said Billy Hattaway, Orlando’s transportation director. Key lessons were that not enough public notice was given, and the effort did not last long enough, he said.

A factor behind the road-diet experiment is the Orlando area’s standing among the most deadly U.S. metro areas for pedestrians and cyclists.

The $75,000 experiment that used temporary tape and stanchions resulted in:

Evening traffic slowing in the eastbound lane so that drivers took as long as 6 minutes and 10 seconds to travel the half-mile, which ordinarily takes 1 minute and 17 seconds.

A drop in the daily traffic counts from 18,666 cars on average to 17,409 during the road diet.

More traffic on other eastwest roads in the area, including increases from 3,114 to 3,569 vehicles daily on Grant Street and from 2,478 to 2,952 each day on Kaley Avenue.

Reduced speeding along the road, where the percentage of drivers exceeding the 35 mph limit went from 59 percent normally to 28 percent during the experiment.

An increase in cyclists from 111 to 167 on average from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and an increase in crosswalk use from 295 to 408 pedestrians during those hours.

The road-diet experiment was paid for by revenue from the city’s red-light camera pro-

gram, and it was conducted on a stretch of Curry Ford that belongs to Orange County.

Curry Ford Road is not now proposed for a permanent redesign to accommodate bike lanes and more

inviting sidewalks.

But those measures are under consideration for Corrine Drive in Audubon Park and Robinson Street along Lake Eola Park.

Public criticism outweighed support of the Curry Ford Road experiment.

But, Hattaway said, much of the negative feedback came from drivers

living elsewhere and using Curry Ford as a cut-through option.

“The people who live there are having to experience the negative consequences,” Hattaway said.

The technical memo points out that Orlando has followed a “suburban growth pattern,” but the city is becoming more urbanized, straining its roadways.

The experiment, according to the memo, highlighted the tradeoffs that can come with making Orlando more walkable, livable and sustainable.

City officials will have a community meeting to discuss the test and its results at 6 p.m. Aug. 14 in the Dover Shores Neighborhood Center at 1400 Gaston Foster Road.