Winter Park project could reshape intersection of Lyman and New York avenues

One of Winter Park’s most notorious intersections may be getting a lot safer with the help of a potential public works project.

Winter Park City Commissioners will consider a project at their Feb. 25 meeting that would reshape the intersection of West Lyman and South New York avenues, bringing it from a four-way intersection down to three.

According to the City Commission agenda, the project would entail closing off Lyman Avenue on the east side of the railroad tracks that cut through the middle of the intersection.

A new curb would be established through the intersection along the east side of New York Avenue, and drivers heading west down Lyman Avenue between city hall and the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce building would come up to a dead end.

The idea all stemmed from the ongoing quiet zone project happening at the railroad crossings throughout the city.

“In reviewing the quiet zone gates and their installation it was determined that approximately half the cost of the whole improvement or about ($300,000) is related solely to the New York/Lyman intersection,” the agenda states. “This intersection has long been a difficult one as its size and spanning of the railroad tracks often results in driver confusion at the four-way stop.” 

The project would not only save about $75,000 in funding for the installation of the quiet zone gates, but also would create additional parking spaces along Lyman Avenue with a potential redesign of the city hall parking lot.

That area of Lyman Avenue that comes to a dead end could be used as an event space as well, and removing the stop signs on New York Avenue at the new three-way intersection would improve traffic flow, according to the agenda.

City staff plan to bring more information before the City Commission at the first meeting in March, before work for the quiet zone project starts at the Lyman/New York intersection.