ORLANDO, Fla. -- As co-owner of Nature’s Market off Curry Ford Road for 23 years, David Cucuzza knows a lot about the area and likes the direction his community is headed.
- Orlando releases findings in Curry Ford traffic project
- City cites 53 percent decrease in speeding
- City hoped for more positive reaction to bike lanes
"This whole area from Conway Road up to Bumby has been totally revitalized," Cucuzza said.
That's one of the reasons why the City of Orlando initially chose Curry Ford Road for a traffic project.
Not only does the area have a suddenly thriving, growing commercial district, but the road also has several neighborhoods in close proximity.
The stretch of Curry Ford Road we are talking about is between Bumby Avenue and Crystal Lake Drive, which is located just southeast of downtown Orlando.
During the month of April, the City of Orlando essentially closed two lanes on Curry Ford to add dedicated bike lanes on either side of the road. They also added a mid-block crossing with a refuge island for pedestrians.
David Cucuzza says that most people that he talked to weren't impressed.
"We had a lot of customers complaining that were coming in. We had 90 percent!" he exclaimed.
The city claims success despite that negative feedback. They cite a 53 percent decrease in speeding, a 50 percent increase in biking, and walkers increased substantially too.
When it came to the temporary bike lanes, however, the city may have been hoping for a better initial reaction.
"The lanes were so big where the bikes were going, it didn't totally look like a bike lane," Cucuzza said. "So it was confusing some of the people who had smaller cars. Some people were actually driving on there."
Spectrum News asked, what's next for the area?
The city says they are planning on looking at the area holistically to develop a long-range strategy.
They will also determine how and where development should happen to improve mobility and commercial vitality of the area.
Expect that effort to launch in November.
As for David Cucuzza, he just hopes the end game will be better than the test run.
"It's a high-traffic area during peak times, so you definitely need all four lanes. It created more problems than anything," he said.