Friends of East Orlando: The Next Step for Alafaya Trail
During the month of April, I had the opportunity to attend two community meetings in southeast Orlando regarding a proposed land use change to the International Corporate Park (ICP) development located in East Orange County at the ICP Beachline exit.
ICP is the critical funding partner to getting the 528/Alafaya Trail/Avalon Park Boulevard extension and interchange complete. ICP is also the property owner that has committed to paying for the building of Road ‘E’, the temporary road that has been promised to residents and businesses living and traveling throughout the South Alafaya Trail corridor. Road ‘E’ is designed to connect to the existing interchange at the Beachline as a temporary solution for traffic relief until the permanent interchange is constructed.
As you may recall, residents were promised at a public meeting last year that this temporary road would be complete in fall of this year, yet at the time of this writing the proper agreements have not been finalized between the County and the property owner to reassure us that this project is still on track. During the first of the two community meetings in April, residents were told in so many words that there is little incentive for ICP to expedite their portion of funding for the interchange (approximately $12 million) if they were not able to move forward with their development efforts as part of the greater vision for Innovation Way, which include expansion plans for a second Central Florida Research Park.
This roadway project, like most important projects in our community, has many moving parts. It is essential that we as citizens stay informed.
Join the Facebook Group, ‘Build Alafaya Trail Already‘, to receive notification of a third community meeting that we are requesting from Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart’s office to help keep residents and businesses along the South Alafaya Trail corridor informed.
Article by Jennifer Thompson
Story Update:
Mayor Richard Crotty just announced that an agreement has been reached concerning Road ‘E’ and the Alafaya Trail extension to the Beachline. Road ‘E’ will provide much needed relief for residents and businesses traveling along S. Alafaya Trail and is a critical step towards achieving his vision for Innovation Way. Once this agreement is in place, permitting and road construction can start shortly thereafter.
Thoughts? Comments? Let us know what you think.
What i think is that this has taken way too long ……and any elected officials that have been involved in this fiasco should be voted out of office!!! To build a road and stop short of connecting it and leaving it that way…when people are stuck in a dead end overdeveloped area is rediculous!! Then to make matters worse i hear that they spent over a million to add feaux suspension pylons to the bridge over Lake Underhill….just so people will know they are on a gateway to downtown!!!!! That money could have helped connect Alafay Road to the beachline!!! What a waste…i understand they wanted to beautify that bridge but we are suffering over here on the East side…..now we sit with a road to nowhere and promises that it will be connected in November 2010….well thats not soon enough…and i am sure the citys not paying for it…because if they were it wouldnt be happening! People reading this should remember who is in office when its time to vote for your elected city officials and how badly this was handled.