Agencies applaud U.S. 192 vision

By Juliana A. Torres
Staff Writer, Osceola News Gazette    

The city of Kissimmee’s planning staff involved in the redevelopment on the Vine Street corridor met with several regional transportation agency heads last week to present the city’s vision for its portion of U.S. Highway 192 and garner their support.

Those gathered expressed enthusiasm for how much the city has accomplished.

“I’m so impressed with what you’ve outlined,” Harry Barley, executive director for Metroplan Orlando, said after the city’s presentation. “This kind of sets the standard for what we’re looking to see, so many of us really, throughout the region. And it’s already done.”

Barley said his agency is preparing to set long-range plans and standards for the Orlando region, using Renaissance Planning Group, the same company working with Kissimmee as a consultant for the Vine Street project.

“We can already check off the city of Kissimmee as ‘done.’ It’s kind of remarkable,” he said.

Those represented at the Nov. 19 meeting included Florida Department of Transportation, Metroplan, Lynx, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council as well as several departments within the county government.

Bob Wright, coordinator for the Vine Street project for the city, said staff was pleased with the reaction they received.

“We’re very happy that people want to stay engaged, want to be involved,” Wright said. “I couldn’t be happier with the results. Now we just have to keep them onboard and keep them focused.”

The city invited about 15 people to attend the presentation and ended up with the Kissimmee Commission Chambers filled with not only agency heads, but also several of their staff, Wright said.

“It was excellent turnout, way more than we invited,” he said.

The meeting was prompted by the city’s Vine Street steering committee, as well as the fact that progress in the planning of Vine Street has reached a point where support from agencies beyond the city is needed, Wright said.

“When you start talking money, you’ve got to have them involved,” he said.

Wright said an especially important result of the meeting was forming a relationship with the representatives of FDOT, whose enthusiasm for the redevelopment of Vine Street was in part because of the new transportation standards that go beyond improving roads set by the Florida Senate Bill 360, passed into law earlier this year.

“Their role is changed with the passage of Senate Bill 360,” Wright said. “We’ve got to learn to work with them under those new rules.” 

 The possibility of a bus rapid transit route along U.S. Highway 192 was discussed several times during the meeting, with all agencies expressing support for that possibility, though the exact implementation is yet to be decided.