ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF and Valencia College's Downtown Orlando campus is now open for business.

Some students like UCF junior Bianca Dimov already dread their morning commute.

"It's kind of frustrating. The roads are already confusing,” Dimov said.

Junior Alexis Small says she can't trust her smart devices anymore to get her through congestion.

"Some of the streets that my GPS says to turn are closed due to construction purposes," Small explained.

The City of Orlando expects nearly 8,000 students to attend classes this fall. They know that several surrounding roads to be affected and have already done a lot of work.

For example, improvements have already been made to Amelia Street.

On Amelia Street from Parramore Avenue to Hughey Avenue, the road has already been reconfigured to one travel lane in each direction with a center turn lane and a dedicated LYMMO lane. 

Plus, now there are bike lanes in both directions and on street parking west of Terry Avenue.

That should help in the short-term, however, there are some things that just cannot be done until impact is seen.

The city says that they already retimed the signals for the primary streets before classes began, but fine tuning will continue as patterns are established.

Of course, you can't talk about Orlando without addressing pedestrian safety and the city has already added pedestrian signals at the surrounding intersections.

However, with the UCF Academic Center for Excellence nearby harboring elementary school students, the city is working to add speed humps near the school and blinking bike pedestrian crossing signs to help alert motorists.

The city of Orlando is strongly suggesting other means of travel, like public transportation or LYME Bikes. 

Here is a look at everything the city of Orlando has done, what it is doing and what will eventually be done as well…

  • Amelia Street Reconfiguration – Parramore Ave to Hughey Ave:
    • Reconfigured to one travel lane in each direction with a center turn-lane and westbound dedicated LYMMO lane
    • Added bike lanes in both directions
    • Added on-street parking west of Terry
  • Concord Street Reconfiguration – Parramore to Hughey Ave:
    • Reconfigured from three travel lanes to two
    • Added on-street parking
  • Alexander Place Reconfiguration – Hughey Avenue to Ronald Blocker Avenue
    • To be reconfigured from 1-way to 2-way traffic for easier access to UCF garage
  • Resurfaced Parramore Avenue from Central Blvd to Livingston Street with the addition of striping to provide improved access (adding center turn lane) to UCF 1 parking garage
  • Worked with Creative Village team to improve road network, including the extension of Livingston Street to Parramore Avenue to allow for the former Bentley Ave ROW to become part of the UCF campus. This project also involved the construction of a new traffic signal at Livingston Street and Parramore Avenue, and removal of the traffic signal at Bentley Street and Parramore Avenue 
  • Currently analyzing traffic counts at intersections along Amelia Street and Livingston Street to improve signal coordination from Parramore Avenue to Orange Avenue. New timings developed for the primary streets within Creative Village and implemented before classes began, and fine-tuning will continue as traffic patterns are established
  • Added leading pedestrian signals at surrounding signalized intersections
  • Coordinating with ACE School on safety improvements, including speed humps and blinking pedestrian crossing signs that will better alert motorists of the presence of students walking to and from school during arrival and dismissal times
  • Installed five “flo” style bicycle racks in Creative Village. Each rack is designed to hold up to three bicycles. Two racks are located in front of Bob Carr Theatre, two are located across the street from the UCF main building, and one is across the street from the dorm building. Additional racks are planned for the south side of Livingston St and on both sides of Terry Ave
  • Coordinated with UCF and LYNX to add staging area for UCF shuttle service on Livingston Street
  • Purchasing and installing charging stations for three electric vehicle parking spaces – one on Livingston St and two in the Amelia Street Garage