Maitland City Talk

For the past couple of months, traffic back-ups in downtown Maitland have been a constant topic of conversation throughout the community. Changes in traffic lanes, traffic signal timing, restrictions on traffic movements and construction activity have been an ongoing issue, leading many to ask, “Why?”

These traffic issues are all part of the reconstruction of the intersection of Horatio Avenue and U.S. Highway 17-92. This intersection carries a tremendous amount of traffic each day, and was identified in the Maitland Area Transportation Study as one of the bottlenecks affecting Maitland’s future. The study recommended changes that would move cut-through traffic from Maitland Avenue to U.S. 17-92. This would enable local traffic to move more easily to local businesses on Maitland Avenue, while allowing US 17-92 to function more fully as the primary arterial.

The current construction project will create two protected left turn lanes for southbound U.S. 17-92 to eastbound Horatio traffic, and change the signal timing at the intersection for more efficient traffic flow. Previous projects, such as the construction of the off-ramp from Maitland Boulevard to U.S. 17-92, construction of the Sybelia Parkway, and various traffic signal changes along U.S. 17-92, were also recommended by the study as preliminary steps to the process. An additional recommendation of the study, still to be designed and implemented, include reducing Maitland Avenue from four lanes to only two lanes with parking. This is intended to further encourage cut-through traffic to use U.S. 17-92, while creating more of a local feel to Maitland Avenue for business development.

The city recognizes that the construction process has been difficult and that many concerns and questions have come forth as a result. We apologize for any temporary inconvenience that this may have caused. All the road improvements are scheduled to be completed on Feb. 21.

A traffic information brochure has been created by the city of Maitland to outline the new traffic circulation patterns and address many of the frequent questions that have been asked. A copy of this brochure is available on the city of Maitland website by clicking the “Downtown Maitland Traffic Information” link on the home page at itsmymaitland.com. Residents can call the Public Works Department at 407-539-6252 or stop by City Hall for a hard copy.

Please bear with us while we continue to move forward and complete the road construction. We firmly believe that these road improvements will create a more efficient, safer and more pedestrian-friendly traffic circulation pattern through and around our downtown area.