ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County leaders held a community meeting Thursday evening to discuss improvements to Pine Hills Road.
Following last year's pedestrian safety study near the University of Central Florida, the county conducted a study of a nearly 4-mile stretch of Pine Hills Road from Colonial Drive to North Lane.
In the study, the county said during the past two years, there have been more than 1,200 crashes resulting in five deaths.
Shannon Brinson came out to the meeting at Maynard Evans High School because she said she was hit by a car two months ago. Brinson said her two young children were also hit, suffering minor injuries while walking in a crosswalk.
"There are a lot of walkers in this area. Not everybody has a car. There's a lot of walkers and there are a lot of bus stops in this area," Brinson said. "The drivers, they are crazy. They do not stop for these kids when these kids are trying to cross the street. Even myself, there have been times when me and my kids have almost been hit just crossing the street."
Renderings were shown of the improvements Orange County is suggesting to make. The improvements include replacing the long stretch of the left-turn lane in the center median to a grassy median. Officials also suggest making the lanes more narrow to slow down traffic and widen the sidewalk.
The study also showed 85 percent of all vehicles travel at least 7 mph over the speed limit.
Terry James said he walks along Pine Hills Road every day and always keeps an eye on the vehicles around him.
"Even when you are crossing this little intersection right here, cars that are coming this way don't even, you know, sometimes they will go," James said. "I guess that's just the place to be for people who speed because it gets bad out here. Especially at night. You know, if they don't see you, you get hit."
Another problem identified in the study included pedestrians not paying attention to vehicles around them. This includes people crossing the street at random parts of the road, in between moving traffic.
A finalized study is set to be complete by January.