Envisioning Corrine Drive as a Complete Street
The Corrine Calming Coalition (C3), a local volunteer group of residents, business owners, and other stakeholders who work at a grassroots level to bring positive change for Corrine Drive, has partnered with Bike/Walk Central Florida (BWCF) to re-envision Corrine Drive as a complete street, raise awareness about healthy community design and increase pedestrian safety for the surrounding residential neighborhoods of Winter Park, Colonialtown, Baldwin Park, and Audubon Park. With $15,000 in grant funding from the Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF), the C3 and BWCF will support a public outreach process, a charrette with the community, education and awareness on the outcome of the charrette, and a demonstration project.
“The results of this effort will be compiled into a report to share with Orange County and the City of Orlando,” said Jim Hall, C3 Member. “It will be a resident and business driven vision for the community.”
Corrine Drive is the main thoroughfare through the Audubon Park Garden District which is a 2016 Great American Main Street Award Winner. It is a thriving retail district, has active volunteers who continue to advocate for the beautification of the district, and is built around a supportive community and interactive neighborhood who actively support the Garden District. Corrine Drive is home to an engaging, invested community and is a hub for bicycle culture in Orlando. Despite the community’s national recognition as a “Main Street,” C3 believes Corrine Drive lacks the basic infrastructure and aesthetics befitting of its accolades.
C3 identified a major challenge to implementing the complete street approach for Corrine Drive. There are multiple jurisdictions with conflicting opinions on both the ownership and necessary maintenance of Corrine Drive. Through C3’s public engagement process, BWCF will facilitate a demonstration project to help the community transform Corrine Drive into an attrctive, walkable, bike-friendly corridor. C3 will document the public engagement and the demonstration project. This written, graphic and digital document will be shared with other Main Street programs and bike/walk advocacy groups, as well as Orange County and the City of Orlando to effectuate a consensus on the future of Corrine Drive.
The area is important to the WPHF and its efforts to create a healthy community. There are existing bike facilities to the north, south, east and west of Corrine Drive that could be connected including the Cady Way Trail, the Lakemont Avenue bike lanes, the Lake Baldwin Trail, the Orlando Urban Trail, and the soon to be completed Bumby Avenue Multiuse Trail. The implementation of bike lanes on Corrine Drive would provide the missing link between these assets and further support the avid cycle culture on Corrine Drive, where two bike shops have made their homes. The implementation of complete street techniques including the provision of bike lanes has been proven to not only increase safety, but to improve health and economic vitality. The Corrine Drive project will serve as a “demonstration” in coordination with BWCF and WPHF’s other efforts to promote complete streets and healthy community design. The goals are to offer residents more choices to safely commute along Corrine Drive and to ensure this important corridor supports active/healthy lifestyles, results in more physical activity, reduces reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, and helps decrease emissions of pollutants and wear-and-tear on the roadway. Even prior to physical street improvements, the charrette process will help connect stakeholders in a collaborative process, which often results in increased social capital, a known precursor to improved health and wellness. Through the creation of educational materials and a final report, the Corrine Drive charrette can become an exemplar for other road redesigns.
