By the end of the year, and for years to come, Woodbury Road will become a corridor of construction as multiple projects are poised to begin. Along with the planned extension and widening of Woodbury Road, traffic flow will face a slowdown due to a separate project that will lay a new transmission line for reclaimed water.
The water reclamation pipeline project is part of a 17-mile, $63 million effort to divert reclaimed water, now being returned to the St. Johns River, for public irrigation use.
This pipeline project will link the Iron Bridge Plant, just north of the University of Central Florida, to communities in Seminole and Orange counties, from Oviedo out to Clermont, and from Baldwin Park all the way to new developments near Lake Hart in southeast Orlando.
The new 42-inch pipes to be laid will be the final leg of the overall project. They will run from Central Florida Research Park down Woodbury Road to Golfway Boulevard, then over to Alafaya Trail and a short trip up to the Eastern Regional Water Reclamation Facility.
Construction is set to begin in October of this year and will last about a year. Ironically, this segment of the water reclamation project will not serve those who will be inconvenienced most — the residents of Waterford Lakes and Eastwood.
Orange County Utilities, which serves this area, is not planning to provide reclaimed water to these communities. “You will not get a direct benefit unless the county makes provisions to provide service,” said Orlando Public Works Director Alan Oyler.
Oyler added, however, that the water reuse project will aid all citizens by helping to preserve the dwindling supply of drinking water, as well as holding the line on water rates. Jason Herrick, manager of the county’s engineering division, said Orange County is participating in the water reclamation project, buying pipeline capacity to deliver 4 million gallons of reclaimed water per day to Orange County Utilities customers.
He explained the county is currently in negotiations with Orlando to provide reclaimed water to new developments immediately north and south of Woodbury Road. However, he said the cost to connect established neighborhoods is extremely pricey, a cost that would have to be paid by residents.
While it would cost from $1,000 to $1,500 per house to deliver reclaimed water as part of the pre-construction infrastructure, that figure soars to up to $10,000 per home to retrofit an existing neighborhood.
“It is very expensive to retrofit connections to reclaimed water lines,” Herrick said, “and this cost would have to be borne by the residents.” He added that newer neighborhoods to the south, such as Avalon Park, should begin receiving reclaimed water in a year to 18 months.
Reclaimed water pipes were laid on South Alafaya Trail in 2006 and will be hooked up once a new pump at the reclamation facility comes online. During pipeline construction along Woodbury Road, Oyler said two-way traffic will be maintained, but with narrower lanes and a 25 mph speed limit.
Sidewalks will also remain open for the many students walking to Waterford Elementary and Discovery Middle schools. Construction by the schools will be timed to coincide with the least student activity, either during the summer months or winter break.
An Orange County sheriff’s deputy will also be on hand to help direct pedestrian and vehicular traffic near the schools, Oyler said. As the construction zone moves down Woodbury Road into Eastwood, efforts will also be made to not tear up the median.
“It is our intent to preserve the beautiful landscaping you have in the median,” Oyler said. Woodbury extension, widening Meanwhile, the extension of Woodbury Road — a four-lane, divided highway from State Road 50, where it now stops, north and then east to connect to Challenger Parkway — is set to begin construction in June 2009 and be completed a year later.
The city of Orlando’s pipeline project will also be moving along this corridor. The planned widening of Woodbury Road, however, has hit a financial snag. Due to Orange County budget cuts, spurred in part by the passing of the property-tax savings measure known as Amendment 1, this construction project has been placed on indefinite hold.
The expansion of Woodbury Road to a four-lane divided highway, from Lake Underhill Road to S.R. 50, was eliminated from the county’s five-year roadimprovement program, said Brian Sanders, chief planner, Orange County Transportation Planning Division.
Sanders explained that one of the casualties of the constitutional amendment, approved by voters statewide in January, was Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty’s Children’s Legacy program. In 2006 Mayor Crotty announced a proposal to bond $40 million in extra tax revenue, generated by soaring real estate values, to generate up to $500 million dollars to preserve, improve and enhance the community.
This program called for $125 million to be allocated for environmental preservation, $125 million for pedestrian safety and transportation enhancements, and $250 million for roadway improvements along major county highways, including the widening of Woodbury Road.
“Right now we kind of pulled back on this project, waiting to see what the budgetary process is going to do,” Sanders said. County officials want to widen the twomile stretch of Woodbury Road so it would be able to carry more traffic, thereby offering more relief to congested Alafaya Trail.
There is also a safety factor. In the last year, Woodbury Road has been the scene of at least four major traffic accidents that claimed three lives. Carolyn Polomski, president of the Waterford Cove HOA, wasn’t overly concerned about the delay in widening Woodbury Road. Her main worry was how the expansion project would affect the 104 homes in her subdivision at the northeast corner of Woodbury and Lake Underhill roads.
“The two major issues are the noise and lack of privacy,” she said. Polomski explained that the widening project would bring Woodbury Road right up to the backs of residents’ yards. One of those yards belongs to Tony Ganci.
When Ganci moved into Waterford Cove 13 years ago, Woodbury Road was just a dirt trail behind his home. Oh, how times have changed. Currently, Ganci takes Woodbury Road to work in the morning, but travels an alternate route home in the evening due to traffic tie-ups.
While acknowledging that the road behind his home is heavily congested, he wouldn’t be disappointed if the widening of Woodbury Road is postponed indefinitely. “I’m glad for the delay,” he said.
