In the wake of last week's veto of $1 Million Dollars for the Beulah Connector Road Project by Governor Scott--many people have had questions about what this means for the project going forward. Staff has prepared a lengthy email detailing where we are with this project, and most importantly, what the veto does to the timeline. Luckily-this veto does not affect our timeline for this project. This project is moving forward. From the email:
"Staff has had a few conversations with FDOT District 3 Staff since the Governor's veto of the $1M design phase request for the Beulah Interchange Connector Project (aka Beulah Beltway), more specifically regarding the Governor's statement about "circumventing the Transportation Work Program," and wanted to provide you an email hopefully providing some clarity and briefly detailing the project's history.
It appears that there may be some confusion as
to which project had the funding veto, and the confusion may be
do to the similarity in project titles (Beulah Interchange (FDOT
project) and Beulah Interchange Connector Project (County project)). It
was the Beulah Interchange Connector Project that had the $1M funding request
vetoed, not the Beulah Interchange.
Maybe referring to the Beulah Interchange
Connector Project as the US29 Connector, which is how it is titled in the
Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization (FL-AL TPO) Project
Priorities, moving forward would provide a clear differentiation
between the two. So, at least for the remainder of this email, I will
refer to the Beulah Interchange Connector Project as the US29 Connector
Project.
"The Beulah Interchange Connector was one of about 22 projects listed in the Governor’s announcement/press release as being vetoed “because these projects circumvent the Transportation Work Program evaluation process.”
Through my conversations with Department Staff, I take it that the Governor made a "general" statement about the multiple vetoed projects, and that it was not intended to be a specific statement towards the US29 Connector Project individually.
As for the project status and history, please see the below:
- The
original idea of an "Outer Beltway" from Beulah to Milton
via US90 with connection to US29 dates back to at least 2005,
and was included in the FL-AL TPO 2025 Long Range Transportation
Plan (LRTP).
- It
appears that the Outer Beltway was originally "segmented"
into 4 different "projects;" I-10 at Beulah Road
Interchange, US90 Connector to US29 Connector, US29 to SR87
Connector, and SR87 Connector to US90.
- Out
of this, two actual projects have proceeded to date: 1) US29 Connector
Project and 2) Beulah Interchange
- The US29 Connector
was eventually added as a FL-AL TPO Project Priority to both the
Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) and Non-SIS Lists
- Currently
#4 on the SIS List (titled US29 Connector), and #13 on the Non-SIS
List (titled US29 Connector)
- The I-10
at Beulah Road project, mentioned above, was eventually added as a
FL-AL TPO Project Priority to the SIS List
- Currently
#2 on the SIS List (titled Beulah Interchange)
- The Department has a current contract with Parson's Transportation Group for the Beulah Interchange Project for the Interchange Justification Report (IJR), and expects completion of the IJR in FY 2019/20.
- The County
has a current contract with Atkins to conduct the PD&E Phase for
the US29 Connector Project, which includes the PD&E for
the Beulah Interchange. However, there's currently no funding
allocated for any project phase beyond PD&E (which was the
reason for the $1M design request). The County expects completion of the
PD&E Phase in FY 2019/20.
- Currently
the County is "obligated" via the FL-AL TPO LRTP to manage
and fund all project phases of the US29 Connector Project and
the PD&E for the Beulah Interchange, whereas the Department is
"obligated" to manage and fund all project phases, less
the PD&E, for the Beulah Interchange.
So, I don't believe that the $1M veto
has any impact on the US29 Connector Project, or the Beulah Interchange project
for that matter, proceeding under its current contract. The County is still
proceeding with the PD&E for the US29 Connector Project (including the
Interchange), and the Department is still proceeding with the IJR for the
Beulah Interchange.
Lastly, Staff believes that
the US29 Connector Project has been following the typical TPO
procedures since it's inception, and has not "circumvented" any
process.
Sorry for the lengthiness of this email, and
hopefully this provides some clarity and a brief project history
and status."
2 comments:
Sounds promising. Nothing like getting the clear story before releasing a rumor. Should Henny Penny tell Lucky Ducky and Loosey Goosey to let
Chicken Little know that the sky is NOT falling or just let them come here and see for themselves?
Thanks for the information and your transparency. This concise clarification is appreciated.
Post a Comment