State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs is a busy road, there is no doubt about that.

  • Tunnel will help pedestrians cross State Road 436 safely
  • It will feature interior, exterior lighting for safety
  • Project, to be funded by Altamonte Springs, is in design phase

In fact, a million people visit Uptown Altamonte each year. Add that there's the Altamonte Mall and a large hospital close by, and that means a lot of people on foot mixed with a lot of vehicles.

"Well, there's a lot of pedestrian traffic that goes across (State Road) 436," Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Marts said. “It's a very dangerous corridor for pedestrians in particular."

That's why the City of Altamonte Springs is building a way for bikers and walkers alike to cross State Road 436 — by going under it.

"We are going to explore going underneath State Road 436,” Martz said. “We explored going over State Road 436, but it was very expensive. It requires extensive ramping. Given that it’s public dollars, we want to find the least expensive way to get this done. We think our residents expect that of us, and that's what we are going to do."

Although the concept of a pedestrian tunnel may seem strange to some, they are actually not that uncommon throughout Central Florida. There are a couple of pedestrian tunnels in Seminole County itself, like the one located off State Road 434 and Douglas Avenue.

City officials said the bridge will be installed with as many safety features as they can. One of those features is tunnel lighting. When people are inside, the tunnel's interior will be lit. Plus, there will be special lights outside the tunnel for police officers to recognize activity inside it.

"We are going to build into it safety features that will allow it be an attractive thing to use,” Martz said, “and we're going to encourage people to use it."

The project is in the design phase with the actual construction to begin sometime next year with no time table given, Martz explained.

The tunnel will be fully funded by the City of Altamonte Springs.

News 13 has partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation on its “Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow” campaign. The idea is to make sure we’re all sharing the road with people who walk or ride their bikes, and everyone makes it where they need to be safely. FDOT has all kinds of resources for you on alert today FDOT.com.