Transportation
If you ride the Lynx buses and have been rain-soaked these past cold, rainy days cheer up! Help is on the way – hopefully before the “rainy season” and the sweltering summer sun arrive.
Edward Johnson, chief administrative officer at Lynx, offered the following information: Lynx received $31 million in stimulus money for the region and $7 million of that was allotted for the bus shelters, which cost about $25,000 each. Plans include 50 shelters for Seminole, 50 for Osceola, 150 for city of Orlando, and 50 for the rest of Orange County. Plans were to build 26 shelters per year, but they were able to build 100 last year with 300 more planned for the next two years.
While money and rights of way have been problems, the stimulus solved much of the first problem while constraints of right of way and the required setback of 8 feet remain. Of the 4,337 bus stops, 1,000 have setback complications.
Constraints with zoning required ADA compliance (must have sidewalks to access for people with disabilities. Maintenance can be paid with advertisements but there are often objections. Signal Outdoors has all the advertising contracts on U.S. 17/92 and much of Seminole. Lynx hopes to gain better control of advertising and maintenance.
Jeff Rainey, who is in charge of shelters for Lynx, offers the good news that 19 shelters have been built in Seminole County with an additional eight on 17/92.
Plans include building two at the Health Clinic in Sanford, one at Work Force and another at the Sanford Crisis Pregnancy Center. Lynx has partnered with Seminole, the Community Redevelopment Agency and other organizations on many aspects. Trash is picked up in Sanford and Lake Mary by the CRA. Of the 4,337 bus stops in the region, 538 have shelters now.
Perhaps we may deduce that one day soon we’ll see bus shelters on S.R. 436?
– Researched and written in response to calls complaining of lack of shelters during this long, cold and rainy season.
– Sarah McClendon
