One of the busiest stretches of asphalt in Central Florida also is one of the most perilous for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists.
Over the past eight years, 19 people have been killed and 28 seriously injured along a four-mile stretch of State Road 436 in Casselberry east of U.S. Highway 17-92. Up to 72,000 vehicles drive it every day on average, according to city and state highway traffic data, and pedestrians often have to cross up to eight lanes of traffic.
Now, thanks to a $17.2-million influx of federal grant money recently awarded to Casselberry, the Seminole County city is about to kick off a series of long-awaited safety improvements designed to help people cross the busy thoroughfare.
“This is something that we’ve been wanting to do for years and years,” Mayor David Henson said. “Even going back to the 1990s, we did a study, and the Florida Department of Transportation acknowledged that something needed to be done … but they didn’t have the money.”
The improvements include adding up to eight dedicated pedestrian signals that bring traffic to a full stop.
It also will add more lights at crosswalks to improve visibility and decorative fencing along some areas of the medians to make it impossible to cross at those spots.
In addition, the work will adjust the timing of the traffic signals to force drivers to maintain the speed limit between intersections, as a speedy driver will likely hit more red lights. And it will widen sidewalks to encourage bicyclists and scooters to use them for short distances since there are no dedicated bike lanes along the route.
In total, the project will cost an estimated $21.5 million. The federal grant — which will pay for a large chunk of the work — was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in November 2021.
The remaining $4.3 million will come from Casselberry’s and Seminole County’s penny sales tax revenues.
Plans and designs will be drawn over the next year, and construction should begin in about four years, with completion expected by 2031.
A pedestrian crosses State Road 436 in Casselberry, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
“State Road 436 serves so many different users,” which is why it’s so overwhelmed with traffic, said Patrick Panza, vice president of Bike/Walk Central Florida, an Orlando non-profit that advocates for safer, more walkable and bicycle-friendly streets. The organization sent a letter to the federal DOT in support of Casselberry’s grant application.
The road, which stretches between downtown Apopka and the Orlando International Airport, is lined in Casselberry with a mishmash of apartment complexes and commercial buildings on either side built over several decades, dating back to the 1970s.
There are small grocery stores, pet shops, beauty salons, dentist offices, gas stations, tattoo parlors, restaurants, big box stores and car dealerships.
“You have vehicles taking different kinds of trips,” Panza said. “You have people just trying to get to destinations — from point A to point B. Then you throw in people walking, biking. Then you have public transit users.”
However, there are few traffic lights with crosswalks to stop cars and trucks along the stretch, making it a particularly dangerous trek for people crossing the street.
“I see people running across, every day. They’re going from the apartments across the street to this side,” said Khaleel Atari, who owns Royal International Food Market, a specialty grocery on S.R. 436, as he pointed to the apartment complex across his store.
“So I think this is good for people to have,” he said regarding the additional crossings.
Kelly Brock, Casselberry’s public works director, said the road cuts through one of the most densely populated areas of the county and is often used by motorists to travel to east Orlando and the Orlando International Airport.
“We believe that we can make a really meaningful difference for all the pedestrians and motorists that use it,” he said of the project.