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| Should the offramp from I-110 south into Pensacola, which circles the Civic Center, be removed at a cost of over $3+Million Dollars to taxpayers? Many find the offramp useful for easy access to the Bay Center when driving southbound into the city--while others believe that with the Grand Hotel closed and other ways (via the 9th ave. light from the existing eastbound offramp) to access the area--that the westbound offramp is redundant and unnecessary.... |
"Chairman
Bergosh, as a follow up to the attached letter, please see the below next steps
needed to move forward with the potential closure/removal of I-110 ramp at
Gregory Street. I have also communicated the below next steps with
Commissioner Bender as well.
During discussions at the November 1st, 2022, District Interchange Review Committee (DIRC) Meeting, FHWA advised that there were no objections, at this time, to the closure and removal of the I-110 ramp at Gregory Street. However, FHWA advised that this would require more review and evaluation to fully understand the request and possibility of closure and removal.
The
next steps for this would be as follows:
- Attendance
by the (requestor) - City or County representatives at the next DIRC
meeting (March 9, 2023) to discuss the Methodology Letter of Understanding
(MLOU).
- Development
of the MLOU by (requestor) estimate: ($5,000-$8,000)
- Review
and approval of the MLOU by Central Office and FHWA
- Development
by the (requestor) of Interchange Access Request (IAR), documentation
estimate: ($45,000-$75,000)
- Review
and approval of IAR documentation by Central Office and FHWA
- Finalization
of the IAR
Once approved the project can advance to design/construction phases to be funded by (requestor) - City or County.
Construction
estimates for removal of I-110 Ramp $3M+. This estimate does not include
Design.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.
Sincerely,
Mark Brock
Transportation
Planning Manager
Florida
Department of Transportation - District Three
1074
Highway 90
Could you explain the point of closing the ramp? Is it costly to maintain? If so, how long will it take for the 3 million removal price tag to equalize? This seems like a silly way to spend money, but I'm up for hearing a cogent argument as to why it should go.
ReplyDelete8:41--There was some consensus between the city/county that the off ramp could go away which would give the Civic Center a more contiguous property which may allow for additions/redevelopment etc. However, the devil was always in the details for my vote and support--and the letter accurately captured that. We asked FDOT to remove the ramp. What we got back was a roadmap to how the local governments "could possibly" have the ramp removed IF they 1. pay for it and 2. take a series of steps including attending meetings and 3. make friends with the idea that it could cost $3.5 Million, from these same local governments, to go through the evolution. That's the difference. If FDOT is doing it and funding it--that's a much easier position for us to take. If we have to pay---yeah, not so much. But we'll see what happens? Maybe the city will fund it independently with their money?
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