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I sometimes drive through downtown Orlando on the weekends and it is dead. Nothing. There is no reason to go down there and no reason to encourage people to go down there. This light rail system is a just another wasteful government spending project. The bus system in the Orlando area is a joke and that is where the money should have been applied.
What Light Rail system? This is for Commuter Rail.
Orlando really needs a Light Rail system to compliment Sunrail if this city & metro truly wants to be world class. The Lynx bus system also leaves much to be desired with no bus shelters & sometimes not even so much as bus bench to sit on! Orange county residents need to raise their sales tax an extra penny to be dedicated solely for transit in order to build a Light rail system & improve the bus system.
Does anybody know what the current sales tax % is in Orange county?
I want SunRail to move forward. I think it will be a wonderful asset to the Orlando Metro Area
Truthfully, I think the biggest question is...will people use it. If (little word with HUGE meaning in this situation) people use it, it may reduce traffic on I-4, but truthfully by how much?
I-4 has had traffic for as long as I can remember, and its obsolete and overused, through most of Orange County I-4 is 8 lanes wide (4 per side) when realistically to handle all the traffic it sees daily, it should be 10-12 lanes wide with a carpool lane.
Our main freeway in Las Vegas is US Route 95, from downtown to northwest Las Vegas the road is 12 lanes wide, with a carpool lane on each side, with widening construction up to the far nw suburbs where I live nearing completion, this road, even during rush hour is almost never congested unless there is a major accident, longtime residents told me that US 95 was REALLY bad before it was widened
If SunRail does get killed, the money should be used, if possible to widen I-4 to add 1 car pool lane each direction, and at least one extra travel lane each direction, though through downtown that may be difficult
But however, the expressway authority did it with 408 (which is never congested anymore) they could certainly do it to I-4, widen it from Conroy Road to Maitland Blvd, one car pool lane, and 5 travel lanes both directions
Otherwise I support my hometown's ambitions for SunRail all the way
Keep in mind that building an additional lane on I-4 cost nearly twice as much a Sunrail just for a mile. Sunrail will cost just over a billion, adding 4 more lanes from the tourist corridor into Seminole county would cost trillions of dollars. Sunrail will not solve our congestion problems but for the price and time it will take to get up and running, it's a very good option. I am optimistic about ridership because I believe the stations are well planned going to major employment centers. The big question of "how do I get to my final destination?" is being worked out as we speak. Lynx is re-tuning their routes and schedules to get people from the station to employment and retail centers.
Keep in mind that building an additional lane on I-4 cost nearly twice as much a Sunrail just for a mile. Sunrail will cost just over a billion, adding 4 more lanes from the tourist corridor into Seminole county would cost trillions of dollars. Sunrail will not solve our congestion problems but for the price and time it will take to get up and running, it's a very good option. I am optimistic about ridership because I believe the stations are well planned going to major employment centers. The big question of "how do I get to my final destination?" is being worked out as we speak. Lynx is re-tuning their routes and schedules to get people from the station to employment and retail centers.
You really think the cost would run in the trillions to add more lanes to I-4 from 528 to Maitland Blvd? I dont understand why road projects in Florida are so expensive. I remember a few years ago Channel 9 had said it would cost $77 million to add just 1 additional lane for 1 mile along I-4.
The city of Las Vegas is spending just as much to widen a 6 mile stretch of US 95 (as I mentioned earlier), and they're adding two additional lanes instead of just one, you would think it would cost a lot more but no it costs the same as it would to make that tiny addition to I-4
Actually now that I think about it, they wouldnt have to go all the way to 528, it could start at John Young Parkway, those extra lane(s) + car pool. Though starting at 528 would be a great way to prepare for future growth
I REALLY want SunRail to succeed, but remember that the citizens of Orlando love their cars more than they love their families. Like Las Vegas, Orlando was built around the automobile, so I really am questioning how many people are willing to give up their cars to used SunRail to go to and fro'.
If I still lived in Orlando, I wouldnt have a use for SunRail simply because of my previous location in Hunter's Creek, I would certainly ride it to see what it was like. But personally I love the freedom of traveling when I please in my own vehicle, I can listen to my music at my own volume, I can do whatever I want and be concerned about anybody else who may be sitting nearby. Sorry if that sounds selfish
Like I said, I really want SunRail to succeed, and if it takes thousands of cars off of I-4, than wonderful But like you said as well, Lynx may need to retune their routes. I also think the city should give incentives to people who car pool to work to take even more cars off I-4
In addition to SunRail, Lynx needs to find a solid, dedicated source of funding, not only to keep their current routes running, but to improve service as well. As big as Orlando is, a majority of routes dont run frequently enough or run on Sunday. It needs to be a 24 hour systen. The bus system here in Vegas is 24 hours and, they are constantly improving service instead of cutting it, why is this? They have dedicated funding. Lynx needs that badly, and has needed it for a long time
If SunRail does get killed, the money should be used, if possible to widen I-4 to add 1 car pool lane each direction, and at least one extra travel lane each direction, though through downtown that may be difficult
I think you already knew this, but SunRail already broke ground. It can't be killed now.
I think you already knew this, but SunRail already broke ground. It can't be killed now.
I suppose I should have have said "if it DID" as in past tense, opposed to the present tense "does" get killed
Even with SunRail, I-4 should still be widened and soon before the economy picks up and Orlando begins growing again. The roads in Central Florida wont bear the load when growth starts up, the roads can barely move people quickly as it is, they ought to focus on roads now along with SunRail
You really think the cost would run in the trillions to add more lanes to I-4 from 528 to Maitland Blvd? I dont understand why road projects in Florida are so expensive. I remember a few years ago Channel 9 had said it would cost $77 million to add just 1 additional lane for 1 mile along I-4.
Even assuming that costs it would still be $1.3552 Billion (17.6 miles x $77M/mile) just to add a single lane. Times that by the 4 additional lanes desired and your looking at nearly $5.5B. But this is based a pretty conservative estimate. I read the Billion dollar price tag on a rail proponent website so I guess we can assume that's high. Either way it's still really costly to add to I4. My guess is because your working on a heavily traveled road the work would have to be done so slow and mostly at night, adding to labor costs. There probably some issue with having to work around existing infrastructure in an urban setting also. This is probably why it's much cheaper to build a new road in an undeveloped area as opposed to add to an existing road.
And Davie, the train isn't for everyone or is it a be all solution to our traffic woes. There's no way that Florida will ever become mass transit dependant, but the issue is making it less car exclusive transit. Its about giving people options and alternative. I'm not getting rid of my car anytime soon, I love the freedom of my vehicle just as much as the next guy. But I for one, if given the option, would rather ride the train to work and back daily than fight it out on I4. If I were living near a station and attending an event downtown that I know traffic and parking are going to be difficult, again I would choose the train. But for most other daily activities I would drive. I think there enough like minded Central Floridians to make Sunrail successful.
Even assuming that costs it would still be $1.3552 Billion (17.6 miles x $77M/mile) just to add a single lane. Times that by the 4 additional lanes desired and your looking at nearly $5.5B. But this is based a pretty conservative estimate. I read the Billion dollar price tag on a rail proponent website so I guess we can assume that's high. Either way it's still really costly to add to I4. My guess is because your working on a heavily traveled road the work would have to be done so slow and mostly at night, adding to labor costs. There probably some issue with having to work around existing infrastructure in an urban setting also. This is probably why it's much cheaper to build a new road in an undeveloped area as opposed to add to an existing road.
And Davie, the train isn't for everyone or is it a be all solution to our traffic woes. There's no way that Florida will ever become mass transit dependant, but the issue is making it less car exclusive transit. Its about giving people options and alternative. I'm not getting rid of my car anytime soon, I love the freedom of my vehicle just as much as the next guy. But I for one, if given the option, would rather ride the train to work and back daily than fight it out on I4. If I were living near a station and attending an event downtown that I know traffic and parking are going to be difficult, again I would choose the train. But for most other daily activities I would drive. I think there enough like minded Central Floridians to make Sunrail successful.
That price makes sense. I-4 sees over 300k cars a day through Downtown (also Channel 9, Orlando Sentinel said it too) Same with I-15 (our main interstate through Vegas) and that has been under construction for years, traffic on 15 is worse than I4
I agree with pretty much everything you said about there being the option to take the train and how FL is will never be mass transit dependent. Downtown events are hell on earth getting out of. I remember the last time I saw the 4th of July fireworks at Lake Eola (2009) it took me almost an hour just to get out of downtown, it was hell on earth that night. I didnt go on I-4, I took 408 down John Young to get home that night, little traffic if any at all
Because of where I lived in the metro area, I was never on I-4 very much (at least not downtown or points north) I used to drive to the Publix credit union on 436 in Altamonte every two weeks but when I was on I-4 at those times, it was usually 10-11 am so traffic was always smooth
Going back to the 4th of July fireworks, I think the train will be a great benefit to that event. Perhaps after the shows when people walk back to the trains they might stop and have a few beers or some food on Wall Street, could be great for local businesses
After spending some time on I4 this past weekend and actually paying attention to the road itself, I now realize why it would cost so much to expand I4. It's basically a matter of lack of foresight when it was constructed, although I'm sure the DOT did not anticipate Disney would bring the explosive growth it did. Most of I4 through CFL from Lake Buena Vista to Maitland Blvd is either fully developed or would require massive overhaul of the existing infrastructure. For example, there are many stretches where development is almost backed right onto the travel lanes. Expanding would require the purchase of all the bordering land through eminent domain. It's really just the portion from Lake Buena Vista to Sand Lake that could be widened easily. After that I4 may have pushed it's limits. As you reach OBT it gets really complicated due to the turns in the road and surrounding development. Through downtown the only option for expansion would be to build more elevated lanes on top of Garland and Hughey. Throw on top of that the interchanges would need to be overhauled. It's no wonder doing an expansion of I4 is so much more expensive than building an entirely new road through undeveloped areas like the Wekiva Parkway or even a straight highway in undeveloped areas like I75.
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