- February 5, 2025
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As City Council continues to move forward with the Yorktowne Boulevard expansion, residents urge it to consider the smaller details.
Once completed, Yorktowne will serve as as a collector roadway from Hidden Lake Drive to Willow Run Boulevard.
The goal is to provide an alternate route to Interstate 95, relieve congestion at the Dunlawton Avenue intersection and reduce thru traffic in the Hidden Lake neighborhood.
Mayor Don Burnette said he frequently cuts through the neighborhood for convenience, and he thinks it would benefit the neighborhood if traffic were directed elsewhere.
Kathy Josenhans, who lives in the Hidden Lake neighborhood, said Yorktowne may cause more problems once completed.
Josenhans said school bus stops line the road, which will cause a safety problem to children leaving to and arriving from school.
Also, she is concerned continued development will worsen flooding issues, which began with the construction of Cornerstone Grove homes near the neighborhood.
Long periods of rain flood the area with swampy and smelly water, which may get worse when Yorktowne construction begins, she said.
District 1 Councilman Bob Ford said they would look into the flooding issues and that they could restructure a nearby canal to resolve the issue.
Whatever the case, he said the flooding issue will be “taken into account heavily moving forward.”
Burnette agreed.
He said at this point, City Council is not committed to a road design, and they can make changes to accommodate residents.
“Our standard in Port Orange is not to do the bare minimum,” Burnette said. “It’s to improve the situation.”
He said the city is required to do mitigation, during which they will look into ponds large enough to accommodate the project and the neighborhood to curb flooding.
District 2 Councilman Chase Tramont said issues arise when a city develops near commercial areas, such as Dunlawton Avenue, but the end goal is to make everything comfortable for everyone.
This will include maintaining constant communication with residents in those neighborhoods about the expansion.
“When it impacts the neighborhoods is when it hurts, and we want to to try to protect the integrity of the neighborhood,” he said.
