WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – A plan that could eventually bring roundabouts, four-way stops and a lower speed limit to parts of Avalon Road will not go before Winter Garden city commissioners Thursday night after the item was pulled from the meeting agenda.
The city confirmed Thursday that the intersection improvement item had been removed from the Aug. 13 agenda.
That means commissioners will not vote Thursday on whether to move the proposed permanent improvements into the design process.
The proposal had drawn attention because it would change how traffic moves through several intersections along and near Avalon Road — an area where some residents say congestion has become part of everyday life.
David May has lived along Avalon Road for about 16 years.
“It used to be nowhere near the traffic we get now,” May said.
He said traffic can become particularly difficult around school arrival and dismissal times.
“It’s hard to get out, in and out of your driveway,” May said. “Sometimes you gotta wait for someone to let you out.”
What had been scheduled for a vote?
The item prepared for Thursday’s commission meeting called for a series of temporary and longer-term intersection changes.
According to city documents, the proposed final improvements included:
- A roundabout at Avalon Road and Tucker Ranch/Coscester Street
- A roundabout at Avalon Road and Golden Bell Street/Longbeam Way
- Additional vehicle queue space on the south side of Avalon Road at State Road 50
- Lowering the speed limit on Avalon Road between S.R. 50 and Tilden Road to 35 mph
The city was also considering temporary changes while the permanent improvements were being developed.
Those included four-way stops at:
- Marsh Road and Williams Road
- Avalon Road and Tucker Ranch/Coscester Street
- Avalon Road and Golden Bell Street/Longbeam Way
Importantly, Thursday’s scheduled action would not have amounted to final construction approval for the two roundabouts.
City staff had been asking commissioners to authorize working with the city’s contract engineers to design the proposed final improvements.
With the item now pulled, that vote will not happen Thursday.
Why was the city looking at these intersections?
Winter Garden hired a traffic consultant to analyze conditions at several intersections, looking at factors including traffic volume, delays, vehicle queues, speeds and crash history.
The findings show the city’s concerns extend beyond drivers simply complaining about congestion.
One of the locations examined was Avalon Road at Tucker Ranch/Coscester Street.
At that intersection, the consultant found the Tucker Ranch approach operating at Level of Service F during both the morning and afternoon peak periods. The Coscester Street approach, by comparison, was rated Level of Service C.
Level of Service is an engineering measure used to describe traffic operations. In the city’s study, an F represented deficient conditions for that Tucker Ranch approach.
Crash data also played a role.
The report identified 13 crashes at Avalon and Tucker Ranch/Coscester from 2021 through 2025, an average of 2.6 crashes per year.
Ten of the 13 — nearly 77% — were rear-end crashes. None were fatal.
The consultant’s analysis supported an all-way stop at the intersection, saying it could create breaks in Avalon Road traffic that would make it easier for vehicles on the smaller side streets to enter the road.
The report also said an all-way stop could reduce speed, improve pedestrian and cyclist crossings and allow traffic to move more smoothly under right-of-way rules.
Under the plan that had been scheduled for consideration Thursday, that four-way stop would have been an interim change, while a roundabout was proposed as the longer-term solution.
Another neighborhood entrance also under scrutiny
The city study also examined Avalon Road at Golden Bell Street and Longbeam Way.
Golden Bell Street serves the Carriage Pointe subdivision on the west side of Avalon Road, while Longbeam Way provides access to Stone Creek on the east side.
Avalon Road is a two-lane roadway in that area and has a posted speed limit of 45 mph.
The report identified nine crashes at that intersection between 2021 and 2025.
Six were rear-end crashes and two were angle crashes. None were fatal.
The consultant again supported an all-way stop, saying it could reduce side-street delays and create more opportunities for drivers to safely enter Avalon Road.
The city’s longer-term proposal had called for a roundabout there as well.
The proposal also would slow drivers down
Another major piece of the plan involved speed.
City staff proposed lowering the speed limit along Avalon Road between S.R. 50 and Tilden Road to 35 mph.
A 24-hour speed count conducted by the consultant near Golden Bell Street and Longbeam Way in April found northbound vehicles traveling at an average of 42.02 mph and southbound vehicles averaging 42.29 mph.
The 85th-percentile speeds were higher: 47.20 mph northbound and 47.85 mph southbound.
The study found about 20% of northbound vehicles and 24% of southbound vehicles were traveling above the existing 45 mph posted limit during that count.
Closer to Tucker Ranch and Coscester Street, the consultant measured lower average speeds — about 33.6 mph northbound and 38.3 mph southbound.
Residents question whether intersection changes solve the bigger problem
For May, the question is not simply whether a stop sign or roundabout could make one intersection work better.
He questions whether those changes would substantially reduce the amount of traffic using Avalon Road.
“The roundabouts might help rather than stop signs, but it ain’t gonna do nothing for the traffic,” May said.
May believes continued development in the area has contributed to what he sees outside his home.
“There’s so much building going on, it don’t matter what you do, because they’re just bringing in more people,” he said.
That is May’s assessment. The consultant’s study does not conclude that development alone caused the conditions documented along Avalon Road.
When News 6 asked May to rate the traffic on Avalon Road on a scale of one to 10, with 10 representing the worst traffic imaginable, he gave it an eight.
Still, he said he wants to see what the city ultimately comes up with.
“I’d like to see what they can do,” May said. “Anybody you talk to on the road says, ‘Oh man, the traffic’s terrible.’”
So what happens now?
For now, the most immediate development is what won’t happen Thursday night.
Commissioners will not take up the Avalon Road intersection improvement item after it was pulled from the agenda.
The documents prepared for the meeting provide a detailed picture of what the city had been considering, but the removal means the proposed final improvements will not move into design through the vote that had been scheduled for Thursday.
The next question for drivers along Avalon Road is when — and in what form — the proposal comes back.
Until then, the roundabouts, temporary four-way stops, speed-limit reduction and other changes remain proposals rather than an approved construction plan.