Monday, September 11, 2006

Pick your Projects

At last week's MAC meeting, the Committee voted to reject the DOT Major Project Priority List (Agenda Attachment D2-A) because it contained no bike/ped specific projects, even though all of the projects include bike/ped facilities. I suggested that the committee review the Bike Ped Master Plan for suitable projects. Jack Kostrzewa noted that only DOT projects are eligible and he requested that I review the BPMP (pages 3-5 to 3-7) and submit my results to Peter Koeppel for distribution to the committee.

First, I want to point out that I misunderstood the number one project, Mahan from Dempsey Mayo to Walden. I had the geography all backwards in my head and thought this was east of I-10. I went so far as to suggest a better section of Mahan would be from Buck Lake to I-10. This project is in fact that section. It picks up where the road narrows from multiple lanes to one lane each way at Dempsey Mayo, just down the hill from the Buck Lake Intersection and it goes almost to the I-10 interchange, just past the new Publix. This is a great section of road for bike/ped access because it provides a connection from all of the Buck Lake neighborhoods to Capital Circle, which has bike lanes already. So, even if the MAC doesn't not influence the ranking, this project will be a good piece of the network.

The eligible projects identified in Section 3 of the BPMP are these:
FDOT 4098031 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Projects at various locations.
FDOT 219777 Widening, bike lanes, sidewalks on Capital Circle SE from Park to Connie (just south of Apalachee)
FDOT 2197481 Widen to four lanes, sidewalks, bike lanes on Crawfordville Hwy from Four Points to Rivers Road (where 319 and 61 split)
FDOT 2197701 Gaines Street and Bloxham Street from Lake Bradford to Monroe. This project is still being defined by the Gaines Street Committee and the City of Tallahassee and may no longer be a DOT project.
FDOT Streetscape Enhancements to Lafayette Street from CSX overpass to Paul Russell. This is impacted by the Canopy Roads Committee.
FDOT 406326 North Monroe Street Resurfacing will add paved shoulder from Gadsden County Line to I-10 and will add sidewalks from Crowder to Hopkins (north of I-10)
FDOT 2225892 Add sidewalks along North Monroe from Lakeshore to Northmont. This crosses I-10.
FDOT 4063331 Resurfacing, add sidewalks part of the way on West Tennessee Street from Capital Circle NW to Ocala Road. This project appears to have already begun.

Of these eligible projects, only FDOT 2225892, sidewalks on Monroe across I-10 is exclusively a Bike/Ped project at a specific location. Streetscape enhancements to Lafayette, and Bike/Ped Safety projects also are Bike/Ped projects, though they are less well defined in terms of scope and design.

In terms of overlap with the DOT proposed Major Project Priority List:
Item 15 on the MPP List overlaps with part of FDOT 406326 and will include bike lanes and sidewalks from Crowder Road to I-10. That also connects nicely with FDOT 2225892, sidewalks across I-10. Item 15 is only a PD&E project, however.

Item 2 on the MPP List, Crawfordville Hwy from Munson Slough to LL Wallace Road overlaps with FDOT 2197481, from Four Points to Rivers Road, parts of which have already been completed. Item 2 is a construction project.

FDOT 219777, Capital Circle from Park to Connie does not overlap with the MPP List, but it does help to complete bike facilities on Capital Circle, several sections of which are in the MPP List (Items 7, 8, 9, 10, and 14).

Those are the facts. My suggestion, as a citizen and non-member of the Committee, is that the project to best send a message for DOT to prioritize Bike/Ped projects is sidewalks on Monroe across I-10 (FDOT 2225892). The number 2 MPP project is also part of the BPMP and should be recommended. The number 1 MPP is a very good project and connects a large residential area to the existing Bike Ped network. That's just my opinion and I don't have a vote.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

We don't need to support a project that is essentially another racetrack road widening project - Hiway 90 from I-10 to Dempsey Mayo.

We need sidewalks and bike lanes/paved shoulders. Give us that and forget the road widening.

Peak Oil and petrodollar warfare gonna get us soon - we need to use our transportation $$$ more wisely than to build more racetrack roads.

1:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How are we going fund non-infrastructure projects like a bike/ped coordinator, multi-modal education or regular downtown road rides?

We need to step outside the Master Plan or state funding and develop this needed fund stream.

5:21 PM  

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