Orlando Sentinel: Future of Corrine Drive is Focus of New Study

MetroPlan Orlando is kicking off a one-year study of the Corrine Drive corridor from U.S. 17/92 to Bennett Road. The road will be addressed as part of their new Complete Street initiative, which aims to take the needs of people biking and walking into account during road design.

Future of Corrine Drive is focus of new study

By Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel

A study asking what should be done with Orlando’s Corrine Drive, once a main route to a major Navy base that no longer exists, launched Monday with a gathering of planners and community advocates.

Expected to take at least a year, the study will center on how to give Corrine more of a neighborhood feel that serves walkers, cyclists and dozens of eclectic businesses and restaurants. The road runs along Audubon Park in northeast Orlando.

Orange County owns the road, but it is maintained by the city of Orlando as it skirts the southern border of Winter Park. Its users include local yoga, cafe and pub patrons, as well as outsiders on the way to Interstate 4.

There is a pressing need for at least one solution, said John Pokomy, president of ProductionHUB, a film and television staffing company just off Corrine Drive.

“It’s not safe,” said Pokomy of what it’s like to walk across the broad Corrine Drive, a 35-mph corridor that has a pair of drive lanes in each direction, a center lane for turning and parking on both sides.

The study is being managed by MetroPlan Orlando, which helps coordinate transportation issues in the region, under a “Complete Streets” approach that accounts for trucks, cars, walking, cycling and public transportation.

In the first months of the study, MetroPlan will seek public comment from people who live and work along the street, as well as neighbors who visit or travel through the area. The organization ultimately will recommend a plan for Corrine.

MetroPlan can be reached at [email protected] or 407-481-5672. The organization will make presentations to community groups if invited.

“I like data,” said Jennifer Marvel, director of Audubon Park Garden District, adding that numbers would help clarify what might otherwise be guided by emotional responses. “What does the data show?”

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