Beulah Interchange/Beulah Connector Road Veto: Good News from Staff

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.

As for the Governor's comment, below is a statement I received from District 3 Work Programming Staff:

"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."