[Creative Village]

Unless anything changed, VCC might be the "major educational anchor" mentioned in the OBJ article. This was mentioned in the project overview submitted to the US DOT for the Tiger II grant (E/W Lymmo):

 

"Once infrastructure is in place, the development team has commitments to develop an 80,000 square foot Digital Technology and Arts Program building for Valencia Community College (VCC), 100,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space, and 30-50 units of mixed income for-sale housing by the end of 2014. At build out, the development is anticipated to have up to 1.0 million square feet of office space, upwards of 500,000 square feet of higher education facilities, up to 265,000 square feet of retail, 150-200 hotel rooms, and as much as 1,500 units of mixed income housing. As the broad based investment and supporting commitments referenced throughout this application indicate, the project is being positioned and supported by major industry and educational institutions in the State to become the center for collaborative learning, research, and associated business activity in Central Florida over the next several decades."

Wow. do you have a link to the source?

[Downtown Orlando Project Discussion]

A pedestrian bridge over Colonial would be a god-send. I run with a local running group, and one of our routes has us crossing Colonial at Summerlin, and then back at Hyer. It's always a hassle.

 

Found more info - http://otowncycling.com/trails/item/199-orlando-urban-trail. There is a great PDF of the plan there, and it mentions the pedestrian bridge. I imagine that'll be pretty loud being right next to I-4, but the ground-level trail should be quieter. I'm really excited about the prospect of getting to ride bikes with my son to Magic games from College Park!

[Downtown Orlando Project Discussion]

As much as many want Orlando to be the next Manhattan, I think Uptown and now North Creative Village is a good scale to bring in a huge residential population up closer to the CBD.  NORA, Sevens, Steel House and this really move Orlando in the right direction.  Not everyone wants to live in a Sky House.  It does make it more important that the I-4 overpass of 50 when it gets built takes pedestrian traffic seriously.  Also, would be nice to see a Gertrude's Walk / Urban Trail - SR 50 flyover.

 

There is a plan for a pedestrian bridge on the trail over colonial to connect the Urban Trail and Gertrude's Walk...no renderings but let me find the plan...here it is. Page 61 shows the green-dotted trail traveling over colonial (I read a pedestrian bridge elsewhere). http://www.cityoforlando.net/transportation/TransportationPlanningDiv/pdf/dtp_docs/DTP1106.pdf This is from 2006, but we've already seen progress with the new Urban Trail opening this year, and I remember them saying the eventual plan was to connect it to Gertrude's Walk. A bridge over colonial (like the Cady Way bridge over 436) is the only safe option.