Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Thursday, December 29, 2022

I-110 Ramp at Gregory Removal Pricetag @ $3+ Million: Is the Juice worth the Squeeze?

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....



The looping exit/offramp which encircles the Pensacola Civic Center downtown and curves back to Gregory Street westbound (running just south of the Grand Hotel and north of the Civic Center) could possibly be removed.

Last March I signed and sent a letter, as chairman, on behalf of the BCC to FDOT.  The request was, specifically approved as a request  for FDOT to close this exit.

We have now received guidance back from FDOT in answer to this query from 9 months ago, and the closure request falls back on us to fund if we wish to proceed, apparently.

From the FDOT response:

"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:

  1. Attendance by the (requestor) - City or County representatives at the next DIRC meeting (March 9, 2023) to discuss the Methodology Letter of Understanding (MLOU). 
  2. Development of the MLOU by (requestor) estimate: ($5,000-$8,000)
  3. Review and approval of the MLOU by Central Office and FHWA
  4. Development by the (requestor) of Interchange Access Request (IAR), documentation estimate: ($45,000-$75,000)
  5. Review and approval of IAR documentation by Central Office and FHWA
  6. 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

Chipley, FL 32428"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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.

Jeff Bergosh said...

8:41--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?