Orange County lowering speed limits on eight roads

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County is lowering speed limits on eight busy streets. County commissioners voted in favor of lower limits Tuesday. 

The county is lowering the speed limit at the intersection of Bumby Avenue and Gatlin Avenue near downtown Orlando from 35 miles per hour down to 30 miles per hour. 

That might seem like a small change, but traffic engineers say a difference of even five miles per hour will save lives. 

Traffic buzzes along on Steer Lake Road in West Orange County. It’s one of eight streets where Orange County is taking speed limits down. Steer Lake Road will drop from 45 miles per hour down to 35 between Apopka Vineland and Edgewood Ranch Road.  

Sean Fitzpatrick lives just off Steer Lake. He thinks the change is a bad idea.

“There’s stop signs down there which lower the speed you know, and it’s a nice long road. The light at the end, it’s terrible if you miss it,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Scott said there are two schools in this area and a few hills along Steer Lake Road limit visibility.

“So if someone is speeding and someone’s riding a bike or walking in the street, there’s little reaction time between the time you may hit a pedestrian or someone who’s on their bicycle,” he said.

Other areas will also see lower speed limits. Pershing Avenue will drop from 30 to 25 miles per hour from Sedgewick Place to South Crystal Lake Drive. Raeford Road from Bumby to Conway Gardens Road will dip from 30 down to 25. South Crystal Lake Drive will see speeds dip along two stretches of the road. South Fern Creek Avenue and Kirby Smith Road will also see speeds drop. 

Orange County Traffic Engineer Humberto Castillero says a pedestrian struck by a vehicle at 20 miles per hour has an 80 to 90 percent survival rate. But someone struck at 40 miles per hour has a 10 to 20 percent chance of surviving. 

“So even by reducing it by five miles per hour, it makes a big difference to increase the chances someone will walk away from it if they get struck by a car,” he said.

Castillero adds traffic engineers considered residents’ concerns and traffic data before selecting the eight roads for slower speeds. 

“We also have traffic studies, looking at the volumes, looking at the crashes, and looking at the speeds,” he said.

Fitzpatrick appreciates the focus on safety, but he thinks the change near his house will create congestion.

“It’s going to create huge backups, so sorry guys. Terrible idea,” he said.

Castillero adds the new slower speed limit signs will go up within 6 to 8 weeks, and these lower speed limits are part of Orange County’s Vision Zero plan. It’s an effort to eliminate traffic fatalities by the year 2040.