WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville

An Alachua County Commissioners Meeting was held to discuss improving existing routes on I-75 and limiting environmental harm.

Anyone in possession of the popular, self-balancing hoverboards will be denied service from the Regional Transit System buses.

Mayoral candidate Lauren Poe and City Commission District 4 candidate Adrian Hayes-Santos won the Gainesville Citizens for Active Transportation’s (GCAT) endorsement over Donald Shepherd and Jim Konish, respectively, at the GCAT candidate forum Wednesday evening.

The re-striping of the road should be completed by April.

A Gainesville resident is challenging the way the city enforces parking downtown. “The sign says you are legally allowed to park for two hours,” Kelsey Naylor said. “To get ticketed at an hour and forty minutes, how is that fair?”

A heads up for your travels around Gainesville over the coming weeks: you will hit a traffic delay or two on NW 8th Avenue. Multiple lanes are closed for construction, and while construction will pause for Thanksgiving and on Friday, it will resume Monday. Gainesville’s Public Works Department has resurfaced the east …

The annual Downtown Festival & Art Show is this weekend, and like its name suggests, it will be held in downtown Gainesville on Nov. 14 and 15. Due to the expected high levels traffic, Gainesville Regional Transit System released a map of alternatives to the usual downtown routes. Roads will be closed …

Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency's Southwest Fifth Avenue project built new sidewalks in the community of Porters in downtown Gainesville. The CRA received the Out-of-the-Box Award from the Florida Redevelopment Association on Oct. 22 for addressing issues in the Porters neighborhood. These redevelopments have given community members a new sense of pride for their neighborhood.

As part of the University of Florida's goal to promote safe bicycling and walking on campus, a new shared use path is being constructed.

Commuters traveling by the University of Florida tomorrow can expect heavy traffic and delays, as well as those using RTS. Find a list of select RTS routes being affected, and a map for traffic prone roads to avoid.

Gainesville residents living near Depot Avenue are seeing clouds of dust and dust lines left on the street. With more construction under way in the area, a local soil researcher says the dust being left behind can pose harmful health effects.

Northwest 8th Avenue's resurfacing project will include upgrades to safety for pedestrians. The road was not originally designed with pedestrians in mind, but will have bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks when the project is completed.

Several individuals in Gainesville have taken up the hobby of modifying scooters, one even for business ventures.

Due to a lack of parking spots in the Grove, residents are illegally parking and getting towed.

Alachua County warns of lane closures along Millhopper Road this weekend as a result of debris from dead and diseased trees that have fallen on the road.

Shirley Bloodworth, 86, took her first ride with Uber as part of the Freedom in Motion program. The program was designed to help senior citizens get around town by using the Uber app for little to no fee.

With the second and final phase of construction beginning on Southwest 34th Street in Gainesville, residents can expect a solution to the manholes and uneven pavement. Although partly delayed because of the rainy wet season, the lane closures and repaving should be completed by Sept. 25.

The Gainesville Regional Transit system has made changes to its bus routes and many residents are not happy. RTS has received increases in complaints since the changes, particularly for Route 20, which has had four new buses added to it after Route 21 was eliminated.

The Gainesville City Commission passed a vehicle-for-hire ordinance for Uber, a ride sharing service, on Thursday. Commissioner Todd Chase said the new ordinance balances the demand for public safety while encouraging innovation and modernizing outdated requirements on traditional vehicles for hire.

The City of Gainesville partnered with ElderCare and Uber to create a new transportation program for seniors ages 60 and up.

The Freewheel Project, set to open this August, is already collaborating with community to bring bike education and accessibility. It hopes to provide training and tools to those who would not otherwise have access in an attempt to help grow the local cycling community.

Due to weather delays, a drainage failure and having a streetlight breakdown caused by a car accident the reconstruction of Northwest 16th Avenue is months behind schedule. Residents have mixed feelings about the delay.

Tired of cars sending up clouds of dust when driving by, High Springs residents took action to get four local roads paved. About 75 percent of residents polled were willing to pay higher property taxes to fund the construction, but some are fighting against it, citing the costs as unnecessary.

Shane Hartley and Troy Butler choose to ride their bikes to work because they know the health and environmental benefits of biking. In order to unite people like them, the Gainesville Citizens for Active Transportation want to start a bike-sharing program.

Gainesville city commissioners are working to create regulations that will lessen disparities between Uber and taxi cabs to place the two companies on even footing at the regional airport. The commissioners will discuss the regulations at the next commission meeting on June 18.

Despite continual repairs to Southwest 62nd Boulevard, commuters will still have to drive along the road's potholes and "alligator cracks" until it is reconstructed in 2016. Once a project development and environment study is completed, the city of Gainesville can work on a $45.2 million project that will turn Southwest 62nd Boulevard from a two-lane road into a four-lane road.

A new online traffic control system is aiming to reduce traffic congestion on Gainesville roads. The total cost for the system was about $172,750, installed on

I-75 has reopened after a northbound mutli-vehicle accident shut down both sides of the highway early Monday morning. The initial accident caused a second crash on the southbound lanes involving semi trucks. The roadway is being cleaned up and there are still lane closures.

The city of Ocala spent $38,000 on parking sensors that use heat, light and magnetics to detect cars in conjunction with an app called Parker to fix crowded parking lots downtown without the construction of a parking garage. The app promotes parking awareness and directs drivers to the nearest available spot.

A deteriorated culvert failed inspection last month, closing the Overleaf overpass over State Road 23 until a new culvert is built. The construction has caused traffic issues and added to commute times.

Finding a way around Gainesville can be difficult with limited buses and dangerous bike lanes, but City Commission candidates offer similar solutions to improve transportation issues. Yet a public forum revealed they do not agree on how to pay for the changes.

Residents near construction voice their frustrations and concerns at road blockage. The construction is preventing school buses from reaching children and obstructing mail delivery.

A number of flights were canceled in and out of the Gainesville Regional Airport Sunday after part of the airport's flight landing systems malfunctioned.

City Commissioners voted to return NW 8th Avenue to a four-lane configuration at the Dec. 4th meeting.