The City of Orlando launched a study of the Virginia Drive corridor in July, 2016, including an area bound by Princeton to the north, Mills Avenue to the east, Marks Street to the south and Orange Avenue to the west. The City initiated the study in order to develop an infrastructure and land use plan for the Lake Formosa and Park Lake/Highland neighborhoods, as it continues to attract more dense development, a la The Yard and Mills Park. We first wrote about the Corridor Study HERE.

The findings of the study have just been made public, and we’ve embedded it in the post below. The drafts below are just suggestions from the Study team. Nothing has currently been adopted by City Hall. The next steps of the process will be to choose which of the attached alternatives are best for the area and then to identify a formal strategic plan to carry out the chosen development scenarios. The plan is scheduled to be voted on by City Council in early 2017.

As shown in the graphic above, Virginia Drive could be receiving some Complete Street treatments, including on-street parking, bike lanes, sidewalk enlargements and a possible roundabout at the intersection of Virginia and Haven. Brookhaven Drive could also be getting more formal on-street parking, street trees, and a pedestrian connecting to Virginia. This would likely be seen as an amenity for the upcoming The Yard – Crossman development, more on that HERE.

The Study also suggested the reworking of Lake Highland Drive along the north section of Lake Highland Park. The City suggested the placement of a cross walk/speed table near the school parking lot, bulb outs with landscaping, an ambulatory sidewalk that hugs the periphery of the park, and the placement of an observation deck/gazebo on the lake.

Lake Formosa would see some love as well, with the construction of a boardwalk along the steep southern shore which would connect Alden Road to the Urban Trail behind Mills Park. An observation deck would be placed along the boardwalk, directly across the lake from the Mennello Museum of American Art.

To read the all of the suggestions that came from the Study, simply scroll down. Some of the other projects that stood out the most to the Bungalower team included a possible pedestrian underpass that would connect the Lake Formosa Trail to East New Hampshire Street, completing the sidewalk network in the adjacent neighborhoods, multiple intersection enhancements for safer pedestrian movement, and the completion of the Lake Ivanhoe trail loop on the western side of the lake in College Park.