Orlando officials are considering a “green spine” through an industrial part of Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood, which they say could spark redevelopment, open the area up to safe bicycling and foot traffic and provide a European-style amenity along the train tracks.
Early renderings show greenery, public art, lawn space and paths for walkers and cyclists — much different from the sparse, narrow strip that exists today west of the train tracks at the Orlando Health SunRail station, a road frequented by tractor trailers and commercial vehicles behind the hospital.
While the plan wouldn’t remove the train tracks, it’s conceptually similar to the popular High Line in Manhattan or the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.
The so-called O-Line has been mentioned in studies and reports over the years, but until last week it had never moved beyond renderings on a page. On Sept. 8, however, the idea to reinvigorate a portion of Hughey Avenue took a step forward when the city council signed off on a contract to do engineering work for the first phase.
That $569,000 study will also bring clarity to the cost of constructing it and determine if, and, when the O-Line becomes a reality, said Martin Hudson, the Chief Urban Project Manager for the city.
“Not only does it improve pedestrian and bike safety in the district, it will allow pedestrians and bikes access to the rail system and the hospital, and we also think it could stimulate economic development in the district,” he said.
The complete O-Line would eventually run from downtown Church Street at Gertrude’s Walk, a walkway parallel to the railroad tracks, to Michigan Street in SoDo. The initial engineering is for the first phase, which is about a three-block stretch of Hughey Avenue from Gore to Columbia Streets.
The engineering will be funded by the Downtown South Neighborhood Improvement District, a special taxing district that charges commercial businesses in the 720-acre area $1 per $1,000 in taxable value. The money is for improvements in the area. Last year, it brought in about $4.3 million in taxes.
City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said it’s important for the city to invest in bike trails, as more people are turning to it as a primary way to get around.
“People don’t understand,” she said. “For a lot of people it’s their transportation, and the safer we make it, the better it’s going to be. People are becoming more and more challenged with housing. … Their income is not going up, so they may not be able to afford vehicles.”
Hudson said it’s also a way to connect workers and residents to the SunRail station.
“I think what’s exciting about this idea is if we move forward with this project, it will help start bringing a pedestrian and bike infrastructure idea that is more European in design, where you’re separating the bikes from the pedestrians,” Hudson said.
A 2020 report on the potential O-Line shows a route running just west of the train tracks on Hughey Avenue.
Today, the narrow strip of Hughey covered in the first phase hugs the train tracks near the Orlando Health SunRail station. On the west edge are parking lots for Mears taxi cars and other industrial uses.
Hughey dead ends on the south end at Columbia Street, and the report considers a few options for how it will continue south. One option appears to show an extension of Hughey, or two alternative routes with one turning west to Atlanta Avenue, and another eastern option uses Sligh Boulevard and meanders on several streets to Lucerne Terrace before reaching Michigan.
Early renderings show a two-way bike trail closest to the train tracks separated by a fence from the tracks, with greenery separating the bike path from a walking trail. Just west of it, it shows a multi-story apartment building with a ground-floor café, offering seating that overlooks the O-Line.
A timeline for construction is unclear, though it likely wouldn’t happen all at once and may last several years.
