Orange County invites bids to help slow down drivers

The invite has been sent, but Orange County isn’t hosting a typical party. Their goal? Slowing down drivers.

Orange County recently issued an Invitation for Bids for construction firms to take the lead in the installation of new traffic calming devices.

Now you’re probably thinking: calming traffic? Doesn’t Orlando traffic move slow enough? Don’t worry, no one is trying to build speed bumps on I-4. Traffic calming focuses on slowing traffic in residential areas, like where you take your afternoon bike ride or where your kids walk to school. The goal is to create attractive streets, promote safe biking and walking and increase the quality of life for the people who use and live on these streets.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Central Florida is dangerous for people walking – we are consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous metro areas to walk in the United States by Smart Growth America. And, the number of people who are hit and killed by drivers in Central Florida has risen steadily in the past four years, with smartphone fixation by both motorists and pedestrians partly to blame, our partners at MetroPlan Orlando told the Orlando Sentinel in March.

So, it’s safe to say that whoever snags this gig has an important role to play.

The contractor will be implementing traffic calming devices as part of Orange County’s Traffic Engineering Division Traffic Calming Program – building concrete curbs, traffic calming islands, speed humps, speed tables, colored textured pavement, colored concrete, pedestrian ramps and landscaping materials. The Institute of Traffic Engineers has some examples on their website, but, basically – road design that will slow drivers down, thus helping to make streets safer. Remember, speed kills.

We’re looking forward to seeing these changes happening in Orange County. If you think drivers in your Orange County neighborhood need to be “calmed,” you can actually complete a petition and submit it to the county.

Read an original article about the bid from GrowthSpotter, here (subscription required).