‘Urban oasis’ under I-4? Orlando unveils concept for ‘The Canopy,’ announces 2025 groundbreaking

ORLANDO, Fla. – The city of Orlando on Wednesday gave a first look at what it calls a “vibrant, inclusive and sustainable urban oasis” coming in several years to a largely undeveloped space beneath Interstate 4, as well as a temporary downtown parking pilot project that could be available much sooner.

“The Canopy,” a planned urban gathering space, was formerly known as the “Under-I Project.” The city in August held a survey asking residents what they would want most out of such a project, the results of which have since been translated into the core principles of connection, safety, community, greenery, mobility and artistic impression that “The Canopy” is now said to be acting on. The estimated cost will be between $25 million and $30 million, though a more specific figure is expected once the city finalizes engineering, a project spokesperson said.

Located across South Hughey Avenue from the federal courthouse and stretching beneath I-4 from West Church Street to West Washington Avenue, not far from the Kia Center, new renderings show the road-roofed area appearing clean, colorful (green, mostly) and ambitious. The focus on green references Orlando’s “beautiful canopy of trees,” what the city said inspired the current concept, an altogether blend of nature and tech.

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Once complete, it’s said to serve all sorts of purposes — people arriving or passing through via various modes of transportation will hopefully enjoy that trip and feel free to stay awhile, taking advantage of a safe place that’s lush and spacious enough to entertain gatherings from friend groups to festivals.

Video shared by the city shows the 10-acre area transform through a lens of urban planning, highlighting items such as video screens, plants and pathways to show where principles of artistic immersion, greenery and mobility respectively come into play, among the others.

News 6 took a trip to downtown Orlando today to talk to people about the renderings the city released and get their thoughts.

One resident told us she feels the area lacks enough greenspace.

“We are from Ukraine, and we used to walk a lot and used to travel to Europe and we were walking with parks everywhere we could,” Elizabeth Shchepetilelova said.

Urban Project Manager for the City of Orlando, Martin Hudson, said several factors including the COVID-19 pandemic led the city to change the 2019 concept to what it is today.

“When we kind of came out of that and we had an opportunity to look and see what we need at this point moving forward, we felt like that the ability to create a community gathering space for the community can come together for festivals and events and really create great connectivity became a priority,” Hudson said.

Hudson said they are looking at several ways to make sure the Canopy stays safe during all hours.

“Especially at night after things kind of shut down, we will turn all the lights white, and it will be obviously very bright underneath there,” Hudson said. “The other thing, we’ll have a sound system. And so, we’re looking at a certain time at night, we will play kind of a low volume sound. Some of the European cities have started doing this and you play certain sounds that people don’t enjoy. And so that also helps increase safety and make people not want to hang out in that space.”

Construction on “The Canopy” is expected to begin in early 2025 and could take as long as two years to complete, according to the city.

Aside, a new temporary rideshare zone and parking concept in the Pine Street and Central Boulevard area will begin construction in early April and should be ready by this summer, the city said.

The parking pilot program will involve the installation of around 150 temporary, public parking spaces meant for short-term parking and rideshare services with the simple goal of making it easier to visit downtown Orlando, according to the city.

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