Fairbanks Avenue's Interlachen Crosswalk Is Closed Through January as FDOT Rebuilds the S.R. 426 Corridor in Winter Park
The signal went dark on October 22, pedestrians are being sent to Park and Ollie avenues, and the safety project behind it — raised crossings, speed tables and curve warnings — runs to fall 2027 on a corridor with nearly 750 crashes since 2018.
Pedestrians can no longer cross Fairbanks Avenue at Interlachen Avenue in Winter Park. The Florida Department of Transportation shut off the traffic signal at 8 p.m. on October 22 and is removing the crosswalk as part of its safety project along State Road 426, according to a notice sent to the Rollins College community; FDOT and the college are redirecting pedestrians to Park Avenue or Ollie Avenue instead, and the Interlachen crossing stays closed through January while a new raised crosswalk is built at South Interlachen Avenue.
The project exists because of the corridor's record. FDOT District Five's public information director, Cindi Lane, told the Rollins student newspaper that nearly 750 crashes have been documented along this segment of S.R. 426 — between South Park Avenue and North Lakemont Avenue — since 2018, that the department's speed data found drivers travelling about 10 to 15 miles per hour over the posted limit, particularly around the curves at Osceola and Brewer avenues, and that distracted driving played a role in about 40 percent of the corridor's crashes. The rebuilding answers with raised intersections at Phelps, Shepherd and Cortland avenues and at the Chase and Ollie intersection, speed tables at several spots, and, at the curves, dynamic warning systems with flashing features, protective barrier walls and enhanced signs and markings.
Three new raised midblock crossings are also being built, near Henkel Circle, Trismen Park and Fletcher Place, each with a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon — an overhead signal that stays dark until a pedestrian activates it. The work itself is mostly a night job: the contractor has been closing lanes intermittently from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights for the signal and concrete work. Lane said FDOT anticipates the project will be completed in fall 2027, and the department posts the project map, a video from its July open house and updates at cflroads.com under project 451282-2.
