Mayor Richard Crotty's Blueprint for Orange County's Future includes a vision for southeast Orange County to develop a high-tech corridor connecting the University of Central Florida (UCF) to the Orlando International Airport (OIA). A study entitled Innovation Way Economic Development and Environmental Resource Management Study, addressing land use, urban form, transportation infrastructure and economic development was conducted and subsequently adopted by the Board of County Commissioners in December 2005.

The Innovation Way Study represents a high density mixed use development plan which provides internal transportation facilities where residents and corridor employees rely less on the use of automobiles as the primary means of travel for work, shop, recreational, and school activities. Performance standards are proposed to encourage the use of non-auto travel modes. All internal roads will accommodate either on-street or off-road bicycle facilities and all village and neighborhood roadway facilities will be designed as urban curb and gutter sections with pedestrian sidewalks on both sides of the road.

Innovation Way is also envisioned to accommodate a major hub for transit service, fixed route service and/or park and ride facilities. The high concentration of employment within the plan makes it a viable area to introduce transit when the appropriate employment density is reached.

The transportation corridors will include a mixture of existing and new roadways including County and State roads, Expressway facilities along with other multi-modal corridors. The following link provides an area map which demonstrates the planned and program roadway projects that facilitate travel from existing roadway facilities north of the Beachline to SR 417 south of the Beachline within the Innovation Way region. Orange County has partnered with land owners and developers along the Innovation Way roadway network to fund key roadway production phases and will continue to explore new ways of funding roadway infrastructure needed to support the region. In addition to the primary road corridors shown in the links below, a network of smaller roads will also be established to interlink the various land forms. Individual schedules for completing roadway segments and key infrastructure vary largely depending on market forces of development and by availability of public funding.  

Why was Alafaya Trail Extension built ahead of the connection to the Beachline?

The extension of Alafaya Trail south to the Beachline, and the Interchange that will connect this road (and the communities along Alafaya Trail) to the Beachline were developed as public/private partnerships between Orange County and property owners along the corridor.  They were developed as two separate projects, since the roadway extension involved several different property owners and the interchange involved only one property owner and also included the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, who is responsible for the Beachline in this area.

Both projects were scheduled to be completed and open to traffic more-or-less simultaneously, and design was begun for both projects.  However, as design was completed on the roadway, the property surrounding the interchange (International Corporate Park) underwent a change in ownership.  Through this transaction, design on the interchange (which was being done by the property owner) was slowed, and fell behind schedule.  The new property owner, Suburban Land Reserve, Inc., is now diligently completing the design so that the interchange can be completed as soon as possible.

When design was complete for the extension of Alafaya Trail, a decision had to be made whether to proceed with constructing the roadway or hold off until the interchange project caught up.  With construction costs rising rapidly, and good construction bids in hand, county staff felt that it would be most cost-effective to go ahead and construct the roadway immediately.  Funds for both projects were (and are) available, and constructing the roadway immediately would not delay the interchange or any other project.

The interchange is now scheduled to be completed in winter of 2013, and the road will be ready for connection.  In the meantime, the county is working with Suburban Land Reserve, Inc. to try to complete an interim connection to the existing interchange at Dallas Boulevard, by fall 2010.

Innovation Way High Tech Corridor Map (1025 KB)
Link to Innovation Way Roadway Projects
Links to Growth Management Pages on Innovation Way