Virtual Public Meeting – Orange Blossom Trail (US 441) from south of Holden Avenue to 34th Street Pedestrian Safety Project

Project Brief

This project continued enhancing pedestrian and bicycle safety along Orange Blossom Trail between Holden Avenue and 34th Street in Orange County, Florida, one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Central Florida. I secured the public outreach portion of this design project, constructing three new mid-block crossings with Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHBs), following my previous success in educating this community on three existing PHB crossings along the corridor as well as my work developing designs informing non-public stakeholders on the new traffic safety device.

This project was fast-tracked in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point in the pandemic hybrid meetings were becoming more typical, simultaneously streaming information over the internet and making information available at a set meeting location. However, with restrictions limiting the gathering of people in Orange County, and a population with the lowest vehicle ownership and internet connectivity in the county, I had to find a creative solution to perform outreach on this project.

I determined that the virtual portion of the public meeting would proceed as was typical but pushed for a longer-term information booth at the local library branch. This tactic enabled folks to be educated on the project’s goals with display boards and a large six-foot roll plot of the corridor on a day and time that worked for them. Should they have any feedback or questions for the project team, the library’s computers were only feet away, easing the communication loop between the public and the project design team.

Project Credits

My Efforts

Project Management – Public Involvement

This project was one of 24 public outreach projects I managed over my two-year tenure at The Valerin Group working as a consultant for the Florida Department of Transportation. See a full breakdown of my project management process here.

Community Outreach

Door-to-Door business stakeholder outreach
Coordinating one-on-one meetings with major stakeholders and project staff.
Writing and distributing public notifications and letters
- Newspaper Ads, Press Releases, FAR Ad, Letters to Elected and Appointed Officials.
Virtual Public Meeting coordination and management.
In-person project information booth at the local library branch – two-week run time.

Graphic Design and Creative

Map Design: Local and Regional
Project notification mailer design
Roadway plans and roll plot designs illustrate the construction plans to be easily understood by the general public.
PowerPoint design and animation, working around FDOT’s existing templates.
Public Meeting display board design
Public meeting handout design

Additional Efforts