ORLANDO, Fla. — Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation say more safety improvements are planned for Orange Blossom Trail in Orange County.

Spectrum News has told you before about the deadliest mile in Central Florida: Orange Blossom Trail from I-4 to Holden Avenue.

Pedestrian safety improvements are currently ongoing there, and now the Florida Department of Transportation is planning on similar changes on OBT from Holden Avenue south to Sand Lake Road.

“There will be accidents every other day,” said Daniel Cortez, who works on OBT at Charlie’s Kitchen and Grill.

Data show that from 2017 to 2022, there were 111 crashes involving pedestrians or bicyclists — nine of them fatal — on OBT from Holden Avenue to Sand Lake Road.

FDOT found nearly 53% of all fatal crashes on OBT were pedestrian or bike related.

Cortez's brother, Christopher Cortez, also works at the grab and go restaurant.

Christopher said he had a close call with someone walking across the street.

“I didn’t hit them but I almost did,” he said. “It was like, they weren’t supposed to be walking there, so I wasn’t expecting them to be there. Thank God I didn’t (hit them) though."

Officials say jaywalking is a problem up and down Orange Blossom Trail. That’s why FDOT has built pedestrian hybrid beacons — overhead traffic signals just for pedestrians to cross midway between blocks — from I-4 down to Holden Avenue.

Now those are coming south on OBT from Holden Avenue to Sand Lake Road.

The $10.4 million project also includes in-road lighting on raised crosswalks, landscaping and a fence in the median to deter jaywalking.

“The cars will have to wait a little longer to drive, but one more minute is better than risking somebody’s life,” said Christopher Cortez.