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Per the July MPB agenda, it looks as though the British owners of the parcel of land that's northwest of the BL-528/Semoran-436 interchange (contains a rental car lot now) are looking to develop a project called Orlando Gateway. Proposed to contain a 600-room hotel, 100K+ s.f. of office space, 85K s.f. of commercial, and 2100 multifamily units.

Pelloni Development Corporation Mills Park Hudson Mills Park condos

This may be common knowledge to all of you, but I just learned of this yesterday -- that a few years back, Florida/the U.S. government passed a law that no new interstate construction can result in FL interstates having more than 6 general purpose lanes + 4 special-use lanes (such as the hated "Lexus Lanes" that were reviled a few years ago). In order words, there can only be 10 lanes, including the 4 special-use lanes, which must permanently be designated as HOV lanes or used in the manner of the "Lexus Lanes". Apparently, however, there was some legislation later passed that added a bit of flexibility to that mandate (i.e. it can be waived if deemed absolutely necessary), but otherwise, it seems to stand. That's why after all the new construction at JYP, there are still only 6 lanes. Further, if any of you were wondering (I have) the reason why the new median is so wide around Conroy and JYP on I-4 is to allow for the future 4 special-use lanes there, as well as the proposed N-S light rail that's due to be in the median there (between the special-use lanes).

Renderings showing the proposed South Terminal, incorporating the South OIA Intermodal Center: Renderings showing the existing North Terminal, incorporating the proposed North OIA Intermodal Center on the east side of the existing landside terminal: These are all courtesy of OIA and CFRail.

There's a downtown Orlando tour at: Click here.

Did anyone see the full pg ad in this past Sunday's Sentinel by the "Save Central Park" group, vehemently opposing commuter rail in Winter Park? Their site, according to the ad: Save Central Park

More information, including renderings, about Disney's announcement yesterday of their "Western-end village" and the Four Seasons resort: From the Orlando Sentinel

SeaWorld set to announce on Monday full details about the Grand Opening of their new water park. Click Here.

Well, I'm not personally involved with the project, so I can't say for sure, but it simply sounded to me like a type of Crossroads-style development on the Western side of Disney property -- value hotels, restaurants, etc.

I've always thought that part of the problem with Orlando traffic is there are only a few "express" ways to get anywhere. I mean, you look at Atlanta -- you've got downtown as sort of the center of a wheel, and all these expressways going off in every direction, kind of spoke-like. And I'm not proposing that we attempt to pave our way out of traffic. In fact, what we definitely need is better mass transit. Even better than roads, would be light rail lines running off in every direction from our own downtown, but at least in the short term, we all know how likely that is to come to fruition. Nonetheless, and admittedly, this is a little far-fetched, but I've always thought that one remedy for Orlando would be to have an inner beltway in addition to our current "outer" beltway. The GreeneWay and the Western Beltway are great if you're on the far east or west sides of town, but I think to expect someone to actually use either the eastern or western beltway as a means of getting around metro Orlando -- that is to say, to try to avoid the metro if one was travelling from Tampa to Daytona -- is a bit lofty. It is too far out of the way in my opinion. Each leg is, what, 70 miles long? Still, I think an inner beltway would be great for locals simply attempting to get around the core of the metro. We'd all like to see denser development closer to downtown, right? Anyway, it seems to me that a minimal number of houses would be affected, mostly businesses. And, not being a transportation planner, I don't even know if the logistics would make something like this possible. But, why not convert Semoran/436 from I-4 at Altamonte to an expressway all the way down to the airport? Super tight and compact, perhaps 4 to 6 lines at the absolute most. No median. Interchanges at 17-92, Red Bug, Howell Branch, Aloma, University, Colonial, 408, Curry Ford, Pershing, Hoffner, and the Beach Line. No wide, sweeping interchanges with water features. Conversely, I could see maybe John Young or a combination of the new Maitland Blvd. Ext and Kirkman Rd. on the westside being converted to expressway. This would be a little tougher, especially the Kirkman/Maitland Blvd. combo. But, again, some sound walls, compact construction, etc., and it seems that a minimal number of existing structures would be affected. I don't know. Thoughts?

Not to get too off-topic, but I don't ever get over to the Tampa forum... Why is that they hate "us"? (And hopefully this query doesn't turn into the start of an "our city is better than your city" argument...)

I *think* that the street there on the backside of Kohl's, the theatre, etc. is Thacker Ave., though it doesn't actually connect to "South" Thacker which runs north-south, roughly longitudinally, down by Columbia Ave and 192. So, when they say it's at the corner of Thacker and Osceola, I think that's where it comes into play. Dyer is the street, newly extended, a little farther down Osceola Pkwy. towards the toll booth. It sounds to me like this "new" Loop (West) is going to go in there, north of Osceola, between the Dyer extension and the existing Loop. It also sounds to me like they're quoting all these stores, which are actually a part of the existing Loop, in addition to new ones that will be a part of the "new" Loop (West). In the end, I guess, it will all be one big center?

From the web: Bola is an upscale Italian restaurant. It mixes contemporary trends with traditional Italian flare. Bola's glass encased wine vault is displaying over 2000 wines from the finest vineyards around the world. Bola offers 2 private dining areas, a full bar and plush lounge with live nightly entertainment. http://www.bolaristorante.com/

You say "po-tay-to"; I say "po-tah-to". I would hope that the overwhelming majority of WP voters know that they're not voting for or against "light rail". It's commuter rail that will be up for discussion.

To my knowledge, there were never any plans for a Park n' Ride lot. There are existing surface lots in the area, so I would imagine they're planning to contract with the owners of the existing lots to lease spaces. Furthermore, I could be wrong, but I don't foresee a huge influx of people traveling to WP to GET ON the train. Rather, I'd expect people to be coming into WP via the train, sans car, of course. Thus, no need for a parking lot. Additionally, I don't see what the big deal is anyway. I'd expect, if anything, for the city to use funds in upgrading the existing Amtrak station to make it assuredly aesthetically pleasing. All of that said, if the majority of voters in WP don't want the station because they don't want to pay for it, then more power to them. That is, so long as it doesn't kill the rail deal for the rest of us who do want it to serve our relative ghettos.

It's the Oasis condos that's being developed there. http://www.oasisofmaitland.com/ They've been advertising in the weekend Sentinel for a little while now.

That's SeaWorld's new water park.

And if you need a perfect example -- just look at the south portion of Alafaya Trail. They don't plan on having its widening complete before 2009 or 2010! Yet, Avalon Park will continue to grow.

If you wish to write to the County Mayor and County Commissioners in order to voice your support for an arena downtown, here are their addresses: Mayor Crotty: [email protected] Commissioner Jacobs: [email protected] Commissioner Sindler: [email protected] Commissioner Fernandez: [email protected] Commissioner Stewart: [email protected] Commissioner Segal: [email protected] Commissioner Hartage: [email protected] Note that all messages sent to the Mayor and Commissioners becomes a part of public record and can be viewed by anyone requesting access to them per the "Government in the Sunshine" laws.

Hope it helps!

Yeah, they're apartments. Called The Place at Millenia. Across Millenia Blvd. from this new development, horseshoeing behind the 7-11, they're about to start work on additional apartments. Fountains at Millenia.

This is the location for the Hilton-Waldorf Astoria development. My understanding is that the parcels being developed were ones that for whatever reason Disney could never acquire, and when it was ultimately available to them, they passed on the opportunity. Obviously, Hilton Co. jumped at the chance. They did, however, partner with RCID in the last 2 years to the extent that they needed an access road from Disney's property, so RCID built Chelonia Pkwy for them.

Much as I hate to admit it's true...

FYI - OOCEA just released an illustration of their potential plans between now and 2030.

I think that ultimately their hope was to even extend that spur all the way to 95 around Melbourne, thus providing an express route into the area from the southeast. Or, at least I think that's what Brevard was requesting.