Tuesday was a great day for peds in Orange County. Mayor Jacob’s announced her participation in the USDOT Mayor’s Challenge for Safer Streets, Safer People. Click here to see the video footage.
“Today I would like to announce that we are joining the USDOT’s Mayor’s Challenge for Safer People, Safer Streets. Which is an effort being led by Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to shine a spotlight on local efforts around the nation, with a goal of improving safety for bicycle riders and pedestrians of all ages and abilities. Since 2012, Orange County has been spearheading our own pedestrian friendly and bike safety initiative including a comprehensive safety program that will be rolling out later this spring. We will be doing it in conjunction with a BCC work session.
We are blessed to have some wonderful safety partners for the Orange County initiative including Best Foot Forward, which we are supportive here on the Board, the City of Orlando, MetroPlan Orlando, Lynx, Orlando Bike Share, Bike/Walk Central Florida, Orlando Health and Orange County Public Schools, as well as our local law enforcement agencies. We will keep you posted on how everyone can take part in the National Mayors’ Challenge as well as our own program. But for now thanks to all of our local partners and of course to our wonderful staff.”
Pine Hills Neighborhood Preservation & Revitalization Division presented the Neighborhood Improvement Plan to the Board of County Commissioners. Here are some of the highlights:
Pine Hills community met with representatives from the American Planning Association to create a Pine Hills Town Center Master Plan. The goal of the improvement plan is to restore the vitality of the community.
- Weakness identified:
- Pedestrian Safety
- Traffic
- Perception of crime
- Property maintenance
- Missing employment opportunities
- Local business property access
- Strengths according to the community:
- Strong community high school
- Multicultural community
- Lynx neighborhood bus
- Ideas from the community included:
- Post-secondary education
- Art center, library, information center
- Community events
- Transit hub
- Public safety over crime prevention
- Needs identified:
- Pedestrian bridge
- Trail connection
- Parcel consolidation
- Community computer access
Some of the proposed design features combine branding tactics with pedestrian safety enhancements, such as this custom painted crosswalk with the Evans HS logo.
