Construction tangles Maitland traffic

Holiday supermarket shoppers in Maitland were unhappy last week as road construction snarled traffic at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17-92 and Horatio Avenue making getting in and out of Publix anything but a pleasure.

Publix manager Mike Sasso brought his customers’ complaints to the City Council last Monday, citing ongoing confusion and construction chaos happening around his store everyday at rush hour. From shoppers not knowing where they can enter and exit to others reporting repeat accounts of nails in tires on Sybelia Avenue, “It’s a nightmare,” Sasso said.

End game for the construction is to ultimately make traffic at the crowded intersection flow better, but city staff said there’s bound to be a few bumps in the road getting there.

“It’s like doing a major renovation in your house and living in it at the same time,” said City Manager Jim Williams.

The construction plans, first drafted after a Maitland Area Transportation Study in 2004 and revisited in 2013, add an additional left turn lane from southbound 17-92 onto westbound Horatio, and takes Horatio down to one lane each way between 17-92 and Maitland Avenue. It also closes the median where George Avenue crosses 17-92, and extends existing left turn lanes from westbound Horatio onto southbound 17-92.

Maitland Public Works Director Rick Lemke said the goal of the project, which is slated for completion in mid-January 2014, is to pull short-cut traffic off of Maitland Avenue and back onto 17-92.

But between the rerouting of traffic patterns for construction and simultaneous undergrounding work, coupled with continued building development work happening at the corner of George Avenue and 17-92, some local residents say there’s got to be a better way.

“Construction activity is a wonderful thing and we love to see that … but you can’t just take over a public street, and that’s actually what’s happened,” resident Dale McDonald said.

Winter Park resident Alice Weber said that with all the confusion happening at the intersection, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

“You will see wreaths of flowers there and they will not be at that intersection for the purpose of beauty,” Weber said.

Lemke said the city is working to improve construction congestion and clear up backups as best they can by adapting traffic patterns and tweaking the timing of the intersection lights. He said Publix is also being allowed additional signage to help direct shoppers find there way to and from the store.

“We know there’s a problem there, and we’re going to continue to try and fix it,” Lemke said.

Mayor Howard Schieferdecker urged residents to be patient while the city works out the best solution.

“When the whole thing is finished,” he said, “you’ll see there’s a method in the madness.”