Ask anyone who frequents the area: downtown Kissimmee, especially the Broadway corridor, can be no picnic to drive, walk or bike.
At an Osceola Chamber-sponsored Downtown Kissimmee Update last week, the city and its traffic engineering consultant AECOM revealed its plan to try to improve things for all of those groups.
The “Connect Kissimmee” project has the go-ahead from the City Commission, and the idea is to transform the stretch from John Young Parkway to Neptune Road and give it an identity.
That would start with a Kissimmee gateway arch, much like the one at Main and Vine Streets, being installed at John Young Parkway and Emmett Street. Moving east, the traffic light at Emmett and Ruby/ Patrick Street, near Kissimmee Police Department, would be replaced by a roundabout.
In order to “calm” traffic on Emmett and Broadway, tabled intersections would be installed at a number of cross streets, such as Dillingham, Clyde, Rose Streets, Orlando Avenue, Darlington, Monument, Dakin, Sproule, Park, Lake and Orange streets. That would expand on— and remove—the speed humps currently found at Verona, Darlington and Sproule Street. Those table tops, which serve to slow traffic to help walkers and bikers be more safe, will feature brick pavers to enhance the look.
The entire stretch would be a “Complete Streets” project, which would include widened and resurfaced sidewalks and slightly narrowing vehicle travel lanes to better accommodate bicycle lanes, especially on the Emmett Street (Ruby to John Young) portion.
“It’s much like the scaping project done on Church Street,” Phillips said.
That is all part of a Phase One, and construction is expected to begin in Fall of 2025. Phillips said the project would take about 18 months to complete. There is a second phase of changes that are still fluid.
“There is an option in a later phase to go from four to two lanes on Broadway,” Phillips said, noting a traffic pattern suggested by the city previously that was later reconsidered and not done.
Also at the update event, city of Kissimmee Redevelopment Manager Benjamin Bennett presented the city’s new branding campaign, which includes the possibility of a new city logo.
“We’re trying to create a unique and identifiable brand for downtown Kissimmee, and position downtown as a unique destination … that welcomes a multicultural community proud of its heritage,” he said.
The city will hold a Downtown Community Redevelopment Association (CRA) meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 3-5 p.m. at City Hall to showcase and get input on the changes.
