Orange County commissioners are expected to sign off on a multi-million dollar project to improve safety for pedestrians in Pine Hills.
- $5.9-million project to improve street lighting, raises mediums
- Survey of residents find most do not use crosswalks
Pine Hills Road is considered a high-crash corridor and in a survey of residents, 51 percent say they do not cross the street at crosswalks or intersections.
The $5.9-million project would improve street lighting, raise mediums and create channelizing devices to guide pedestrians to designated crosswalks.
"I've had a couple of close calls walking around traffic, as they don't give you a lot of free passage around here," said Pine Hills resident Anthony Cowell.
The project is just for a 3.6-mile stretch of Pine Hills Road from Colonial Drive to Bonnie Brae Circle.
However, county leaders say a portion of the project will fund a public awareness campaign that they hope will reduce crashes in other spots of Pine Hills.
An 8-year-old girl was hit and killed while crossing Silver Star Road on Sunday in Pine Hills. In addition, a pregnant woman was struck and killed while crossing the same road three weeks ago.
Silver Star Road is a state road and therefore not a part of the county's project.
"Once we receive the crash report, our Safety Office will conduct a study to see if there are any improvements that can be made to improve pedestrian safety. An onsite review of operations and review of crash history will be included," Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jessica Ottaviano said in a statement to Spectrum News 13.