Kelly Park Road Corridor Study

Kelly Park Road

Corridor Study

Purpose

The SR 429 Interchange will continue to drive change in the area. The City of Apopka is taking proactive steps to prepare for the changes, to make sure that adequate facilities are in place. The City previously developed planning regulations to incentivize appropriate development, and now we are planning for the future of the road.

West Kelly Park Road is 5.1-mile collector road that runs in the East-West direction between Round Lake Road to Rock Springs Road, mostly located in the City of Apopka, with the eastern portion in unincorporated Orange County.

Our 5.1-mile study area is shown in Figure 1, and includes all signalized and unsignalized intersections between Round Lake Road and Rock Springs Road. Major intersections along this corridor include Round Lake Road, the SR 429 interchange, Plymouth Sorrento Road, Jason Dwelley Parkway, Mount Plymouth Road, and Rock Springs Road.

Existing Conditions

Our first step was to develop an Existing Conditions memo to document roadway operations, safety concerns, development history and projections, drainage patterns, and utility plans. The existing conditions memo is provided here. We found that future travel demand will justify widening Kelly Park Road to a 4-lane divided facility between Golden Gem Road and Jason Dwelley Parkway. The remaining portions should be improved to provide a median, sidewalks, and a trail.

View the Natural Resources Assessment here.

Proposed Improvements

Future growth in the area creates the need for additional roadway capacity improvements, reduced vehicular speeds, safer access, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and intersection improvements. Multiple typical sections were developed with different lane widths, bike lane widths, and median configurations. Typical Section D was selected as the preferred option, since it provides the needed facilities while minimizing the needed right-of-way width. The location of the 4-Lane and 3-lane typical sections is shown in Figure 2. While the proposed typical sections were selected to minimize the needed ROW, they will require property acquisition in many areas since the existing available ROW is too narrow to accommodate improvements. As the road currently exists, the ROW is not wide enough to accommodate the standard clear zone width, even as a 2-lane facility with no median.

Section 1-D is recommended for the areas from Round Lake Road to Golden Gem Road and from Jason Dwelley Parkway to Rock Springs Road. Section 2-D is recommended for the area between Golden Gem Road and Jason Dwelley Parkway. Notice that the median in section 2-D has a reverse crown, with stormwater draining towards the median. Compared with normal crown, where stormwater drains towards the outside of a road, the reverse-crown section will allow stormwater pipes in the median, reducing the potential for conflicts with other underground utilities along the road. The proposed typical sections are shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Recommendations

Future growth in the area justifies a need to widen Kelly Park Road to a 4-lane divided facility, from Golden Gem Road to Plymouth Sorrento Road. Outside of this area, recommendations are to provide a 3-lane facility, with one lane per direction and a two-way left-turn lane. Sidewalks are recommended on the south side throughout the project, with a 12’ asphalt multi-use path along the north side. Conversion to a curb and gutter roadway is also recommended, along with reductions in the speed limits, at locations consistent with the proposed widenings. Proposed speed limits are shown in Figure 5.

A significant factor that will set the alignment for much of the area near the interchange is the SR 429 bridge itself, where the existing road is near the north end of the bridge but there is plenty of space to the south. This area also has enough right-of-way to fit the proposed typical section without needing property acquisition.

Since we have enough space to widen from approximately 560’ east of Effie Drive to Plymouth Sorrento Road, this portion of the alignment is set, and alternatives would not be preferable since they would require right-of-way. Individual elements of the recommendations could be adjusted as needed.

Alternatives

Though the improvements from approximately 560’ east of Effie Drive to Plymouth Sorrento Road will fit within the existing right-of-way, areas west of Effie Drive and east of Plymouth Sorrento Road will require property acquisition. Alternative alignments were developed to show options for the roadway.

Alternative 1 generally aims to acquire right-of-way from one side of the road.

West of the interchange, all of the right-of-way acquisition is proposed from the south side of the road, with no acquisition from the north side. This approach provides a straight alignment under the SR 429 bridge, and impacts a minimal number of properties. Right-of-way impacts vary between 10’ (for the 3-lane section) and 40’ (for the 4-Lane divided section). No right-of-way acquisition is needed from approximately 560’ east of Effie Drive to Plymouth Sorrento Road, and the alignment is set with the roadway centerline generally in the middle of the available right-of-way.

East of Plymouth Sorrento Road, Alternative 1 curves north to avoid impacting several existing buildings on the south side of the road. The alignment then curves back south to avoid impacting the newly developed The Oaks at Kelly Park development, which recently constructed a 12’ wide path on the north side of Kelly Park Road. East of The Oaks, the alignment curves north and holds the southern right-of-way line. All of the remaining right-of-way acquisition for Alternative 1 is from the north side of the road.

Alternative 2 generally aligns the roadway closer to the center of the current right-of-way, so that property acquisition is needed on both sides of the road. Since minimal amounts of right-of-way are needed west of Golden Gem Road, the recommendations west of that area are the same as Alternative 1. East of Effie Drive, the alignment curves southward to match Alternative 1 for the area under the SR 429 bridge and east to Plymouth Sorrento Road (where no property acquisition is needed). East of Plymouth Sorrento Road, the roadway maintains a relatively straight alignment with more right-of-way acquisition along the south side (approximately 30’) compared to the north side (approximately 10’).

The area adjacent to the new “The Oaks” development matches Alternative 1.

East of Jason Dwelley Road, where Kelly Park Road is recommended to narrow down to a 3-lane section (same as west of Golden Gem Road), the alignment is along the middle of the existing right-of-way, resulting in the need to acquire approximately 5’ of new right-of-way from each side of the road.

Ponds

Roadway drainage improvements and ponds will be needed to accommodate conversion to curb-and-gutter and to collect, store, and treat stormwater runoff from the additional impervious area created by the proposed lanes. Potential pond locations were identified based on the existing topography, flow patterns, and basins. Some of the existing drainage ponds will be used whenever possible, such as the City-owned pond just east of the SR 429 interchange.

The Pond Siting Report is available via this link.

Schedule

The conceptual phase will wrap up in December of 2021. The Design phase will be undertaken in 2022 or 2023. Funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction has not been allocated. It is expected that construction will begin in approximately 10 years.

We Want Your Input!

Public Meeting Video

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Project materials will be presented in an open-house format. Meeting invitations were sent to all property owners within a 300’ buffer distance from Kelly Park Road. Download the meeting handout.

The following questions will help us to select an alternative and modify the recommendations.