SPOTLIGHT
In Florida’s future, you might find yourself driving on the shoulder of the road. A pair of Orlando-area expressways are starting to let vehicles drive on the shoulder to reduce the congestion that occurs due to traffic accidents. Other expressways might follow their example.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority calls these “flex lanes.” The policy, the first of its kind in the state, debuted this summer on State Road 417, a toll road on Orlando’s perimeter. Flex lanes will soon appear on nearby State Road 429 as well. Both highways are being widened, with an extra-wide shoulder along the left side of the road.
When a car crash delays traffic, a flex lane opens to help move traffic past the accident at a reduced speed. Overhead digital signs tell drivers when the flex lanes are in use. Red X’s mean a lane is closed, a green arrow means a lane is open and yellow X’s mean a lane is about to close.
“Both of those roadways have doubled in traffic in the last five years. The growth in Central Florida is just enormous,” says CFX Executive Director Michelle Maikisch. “We needed to do capacity improvements — add another lane to the road.”
Several other states are already doing this, including Colorado, Hawaii, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin — although none in the Southeast. CFX plans to eventually expand the use of flex lanes across its entire road network and may one day use them to help move rush-hour traffic. It predicts that other expressway authorities around Florida might someday follow suit.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- City College in Altamonte Springs has closed suddenly, outraging students. In an email, the school announced it would close enrollment and teach out existing programs.
TRANSPORTATION
- Southwest Airlines will soon offer overnight redeye flights and the first ones will include a Las Vegas-to-Orlando route. Starting on Feb. 14, the flights are scheduled for a 10:50 p.m. departure and 6:05 a.m. arrival in Orlando.
- Discover Airlines, a subsidiary of the German airline Lufthansa, plans to start three weekly flights from Orlando to Munich, Germany’s third-largest city, beginning next March. Lufthansa currently has the only other direct flight to Germany from Orlando — a flight to Frankfurt.
HEALTH CARE
- Two not-for-profit health systems in Brevard County — Parrish Healthcare and Health First — are resolving a legal dispute and building a new relationship they say will focus on the future of health care in Brevard. Leaders of both organizations publicly announced that lawsuits between the two health systems will be settled. The lawsuits involve various issues related to competition, facilities and staff.
- Orlando Health bought a cluster of three properties located west of its campus of buildings near downtown Orlando. It spent $10 million on 2.7 acres along Atlanta and Hughey avenues that are currently home to warehouses and industrial buildings. The nonprofit health system with 17 hospitals hasn’t said yet what it plans to do with the land.
TOURISM
- The Disney Cruise Line currently bases two ships at Port Canaveral. But starting in December, it will have three based there when its newest cruise ship, the Treasure, makes its debut. Disney’s cruise schedule for October 2025 through May 2026 shows three cruise ships sailing out of Port Canaveral.
REAL ESTATE
- Osceola County bought the 41-acre campus of Johnson University Florida, a Christian college in southeast Kissimmee that closed earlier this year due to declining enrollment. The cost was $28 million and included 120,000 square feet of buildings. The county will decide later what to do with the property, which is located near the 500-acre NeoCity technology park.
- A pair of century-old historic buildings in downtown Orlando have gone up for sale. Built in 1910, a three-story, 4,731-sq.-ft. building at 17 E Pine St. was listed at $1.65 million. Built in 1925, a three-story, 3,480-sq.-ft. building at 38 E Pine St. was listed at $2 million.
EMPLOYMENT
- A pair of workforce boards, CareerSource Brevard and CareerSource Flagler Volusia, are merging into one organization — CareerSource Brevard Flagler Volusia. It will maintain career centers in Daytona Beach, Orange City, Palm Bay, Palm Coast, Rockledge, Titusville and Patrick Air Force Base. In 2021, the state Legislature required the state’s workforce boards to consolidate from 24 to 21.
RESTAURANTS
- The building that formerly housed the largest restaurant in Volusia County, Fysh Bar and Grill, has a new tenant after Fysh closed in April. Tiki Docks River Bar & Grill is now leasing the 18,000-sq.-ft. building next to Riverwalk Park in Port Orange. Tiki Docks also has locations in St. Petersburg and Riverview.
RETAIL
- High-end culinary retailer Sur La Table has opened its first Central Florida location in Brevard County. It’s located in The Avenue Viera shopping center just north of Melbourne.