OPENING DAY — The roundabout at Orange Camp Road and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway is shown from the sky on opening day in April 2023. Another roundabout is planned where the beltway intersects with New York Avenue.
A crossing on Orange City’s southeast side will get an extreme makeover later this year.
The intersection of East Rhode Island and South Leavitt avenues will be changed from a four-way stop to a roundabout.
The roundabout at the intersection is a safety project funded in large part by the Florida Department of Transportation. The latest estimated construction cost of the road circle is $1.66 million. The FDOT has committed to pay almost $1.35 million under its Local Agency Program. That leaves the balance, about $315,000, to be paid out of Orange City’s coffers.
“We’ll be going out for bids,” Orange City Development Services Director Becky Mendez said.
The actual construction may begin as soon as October. The project is supposed to be completed in 170 days.
The details of the Rhode Island Avenue roundabout project are included in the LAP agreement between the city and the FDOT.
“The total length of the project is approximately 670 feet in the east/west direction along Rhode Island Avenue and 370 feet in the north/south direction along Leavitt Avenue,” the contract reads.
“Roadway construction will include milling and resurfacing, full depth roadway (including subgrade, base, and asphalt), driveways, curb and gutter, sidewalks, detectable warning surfaces, concrete traffic separator, gravity wall, patterned pavement, minor drainage improvements, and utility improvements that includes 6-inch sewer line, 10-inch water line, meter boxes and fire hydrant,” the description continues. “Other construction elements include mobilization, temporary traffic control, erosion control, clearing and grubbing, stabilization, excavation, embankment, signing and pavement marking, and sod. The center island will be landscaped and illuminated. Duke Energy will design and install the proposed streetlights under the City Franchise Agreement.”
Under the agreement, Orange City will be responsible for maintaining the landscaping of the roundabout. That maintenance includes watering and fertilizing the plants, as well as “keeping them as free as practicable from disease and harmful insects” and keeping “the premises free of weeds.”
Orange City’s decision to build the roundabout followed from a study of the safety of the intersection. Traffic Engineering Data Solutions, a DeBary consulting firm hired by the Orange City Council to determine if improvements were needed, looked at 45 accidents at the crossing between 2015 and 2019.
None of the crashes in the study period was fatal, but the firm recommended a roundabout as the best and least costly way of improving the intersection. The Orange City Council adopted the recommendation in 2020 and began seeking funding for the roundabout.
Should have just had a traffic lite we’ve asked for years about if you think u have accidents now just wait all these drivers don’t know anything about roundabout ettiquette and are not versed in the rules of the road . I’ll be taking a different route to avoid the congestion it will cause good luck to all