Best Foot Forward 

May 30, 2012

Keeping our residents and visitors safe is a top priority for my Administration. This includes the safety as you are walking our City streets. Over the years the City has taken a number of steps to improve the streets, sidewalks and walking conditions.

In 2009, the City conducted a sidewalk inventory and conditions assessment. This information became the basis for the completion of Orlando’s sidewalk network which prioritized the construction sidewalk gaps based on proximity to schools, parks, bus routes and SunRail Stations.

The City is in the midst of implementing our Orlando Walks Program which is using $4 million in federal funds dedicated to completing our sidewalk network. In addition, the City has replaced nearly all of its pedestrian signals with LED countdown signals to improve reliability and provide a consistent message to pedestrians. The City has also placed Audible Pedestrian Signals at several locations throughout Downtown and is looking to expand the program to hospital and education destinations.

In less than two years, SunRail will be moving thousands of Central Floridians every day. Every SunRail rider, just like the nearly 35 million LYNX bus riders will also be pedestrians.

Being a multi-modal City, gives us all more freedom to move around to get where we want to go, when we want to get there and without worry.

We want to be the City where you can Live, Work and Play, and get there by train, bus, bike or by foot.

Today, we are taking another step forward in our efforts to improve pedestrian safety across our region. By putting our Best Foot Forward and continuing our commitment to enhanced crosswalks, enforcement of pedestrian laws and community education will move us in the right direction. We will achieve greater pedestrian safety by working together -- engineering, education and ultimately through enforcement.

Visit iyield4peds.org  for more information.

- Press Release (pdf)