As Orange County Public Schools begins the 2024/2025 school year, it is more important than ever that returning students remain safe as they walk or ride their bikes to and from school, and Orange County Public Works is ensuring this is the case by making safety improvements as part of the county’s Vision Zero and Accelerated Transportation Safety programs.
Such improvements were recently made on Oak Ridge Road by Millenia Blvd. and Orange Blossom Trail. Two schools — Sadler Elementary School and Westridge Middle School — are located within this busy traffic corridor, and extensive safety measures are now in place to make school children safer.
“This corridor originally included five lanes with a two-way left-turn center lane that created an issue with conflicting movements, so we needed to address this” said Humberto Castillero, manager in Orange County Public Works Department. “Additionally, it’s heavily traveled by pedestrians, so we placed an emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle improvements.”
Strategic safety improvements in this Orlando corridor included widening the existing sidewalk; constructing a raised median with landscaping in the two-way left-turn center lane; improving midblock-crossing; enhancing lighting; creating easier transit rider crossings; upgrading traffic signals; installing pedestrian barriers; and resurfacing the roadways and intersections.
“We want to make sure we’re committed to the planning, construction, design and implementation of road safety improvements, as well as preventing all pedestrian fatalities as part of Vision Zero,” explained Castillero. “The goal is to get this message out into the community so residents become more aware, follow traffic rules and obey signs.”
Castillero stressed this safe systems approach focuses less on drivers and more on multi-modal travelers — bicyclists, pedestrians and public transit riders — which includes school children.
“Kids should be focused on getting good grades, not surviving getting to and from school,” he asserted. “There’s a lot going on when kids get dropped off and picked up, so everything around them needs to focus on safety, and the impetus is to go above the minimum with engineering, education, enforcement and emergency response.”
This, he added, includes having clear and visible signage, proper signaling, reduced speed limits, raised crosswalks/vertical deflections, pedestrian barriers, and night lighting.
“I’d recommend that parents are aware of surrounding traffic conditions before the first day of school by doing a trial run beforehand,” said Castillero. “The first day of school is chaotic and daunting, so becoming familiar to any changes from last year, and making sure your children understand the importance of safety is critical. This will help them to think ahead of time.”
For more pedestrian safety tips, go to Pedestrian Safety from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
For more information, check Orange County’s Vision Zero and Accelerated Transportation Safety programs.
