Orlando uses ‘quick builds’ to speed up progress
As it turns out, not all government plans take forever.
While major road projects can take years, if not decades to plan, fund and build, Orlando has embraced “quick builds” to speed up some pedestrian infrastructure improvements in the meantime.
These enhancements, like separated bike lanes, elevated bus stops and walking paths, are cost-effective, albeit often temporary.
The most recent quick build along Amelia Street in Creative Village features a separate bike lane with an elevated bus platform that allows passengers to board the bus without it pulling into a bicycle lane and also keeps bicyclists from merging into the traffic lane to get around the buses.
“We’re trying really hard to deliver transportation safety improvements today while we’re planning transportation infrastructure of tomorrow,” said Laura Hardwicke, Orlando’s safe mobility manager.
Quick builds can be projects that improve the safety of intersections, add paths for biking and walking, calm traffic or add parklets and public spaces, Hardwicke said.
Under the city’s building guide, they can be brief, pop-up events, months-long pilots, or years-long rapid solutions.
Orlando is funding them in part with proceeds from tickets issued from red-light cameras, and fees paid by scooters and bicycle companies in the city’s micro-mobility program.
Quick builds have been used in Austin, Texas; New York City; Chicago and San Francisco, according to a guide created by the nonprofit People For Bikes.
City leaders have committed to improving safety for people trying to walk and bike around Orlando as the region routinely ranks among the most dangerous for pedestrians in Smart Growth America’s Dangerous By Design Report, which covers the metro area from Sanford to Kissimmee.
Orlando is among cities and counties to have signed on to Vision Zero, a program that tries to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2040.
Fatal crashes in the city have grown each year since 2017, going from 33 that year to 49 in 2021, which is the most recent year where data is available.
Quick builds allow cities to quickly address an issue, or adjust their improve
ment if it’s needed, said Dave Snyder, the senior director of infrastructure at People For Bikes, a nonprofit that advocates for bicycle infrastructure improvements.
“The two biggest advantages of them are they’re affordable and you can do it quickly,” he said. “You can actually test them out … so you don’t even need to do a lot of community engagement … the project itself serves as the community engagement.”
The Amelia Street bike lane had a planning time far shorter than complex complete-street redesigns, taking just several months. Installation took about a week, Hardwicke said.
It’s expected to remain in place as a pilot for six months, though it could stay longer, or permanently, if it’s successful.
Other quick builds can be even shorter.
In May, the city hosted a one-day pop-up bike path along Corrine Drive to promote National Bike and Roll to School Day. The path stretched from Leu Gardens to the Audubon Park School and protected cyclists from vehicles with vertical plastic barriers.
The city plans to convert the one-day path into a longer pilot starting this fall because of its popularity. The pop-up event helped identify “pain points” Hardwicke said, amid the longerterm planning.
Such a path would be a welcome, even if temporary, addition to Corrine Drive, a road with popular small shops, coffee shops, bars and the East End Market, said Jennifer Marvel, the executive director of the Audubon Park Garden District Main Street.
“Corrine is not walkable, it’s not bikeable, it’s not ADA compliant,” she said. “Over time it’s morphed into a destination. … We want to do more to encourage people who live within walking distance to safely walk and ride your bikes,” she said.
Today, Corrine Drive lacks a cohesive sidewalk network, and a study by MetroPlan Orlando into a potential redesign concluded: “Most of Corrine Drive appears inhospitable for anyone who wants to walk, bike, or use transit.”
Work on slowing speeds and overhauling the road into a “complete street” with lanes for bikes, sidewalks and crosswalks is slowly advancing with city officials expecting construction to begin in 2026.
Ideas for future quick builds can come from almost anywhere, Hardwicke said. The city has an interest form posted online for residents, neighborhoods, organizations and other groups to submit a pitch.
“No matter how the projects are proposed to us … it will come through the transportation department and we will screen it across our quick-build criteria,” she said.