The Brass Balls Infrastructure Acceleration Plan, Part I

There is a plan coming on Thursday morning's BCC agenda which will greatly accelerate multiple desperately needed infrastructure projects that will help multiple districts, are ready for movement, require additional funding and are vital safety projects.

The project to improve and modernize Longleaf Drive will be awarded withing two weeks, and this roadway improvement will include a new bridge at Wymart road, pedestrian sidewalks on the north and south of the roadway, stormwater improvements, and a signal improvement at Pine Forest Road and Longleaf.  This important corridor is also the site of four public schools, so the addition of the sidewalks will be a tremendous safety improvement for students.

Now here's the really good news:

With the economy's recent retreat due to disastrous monetary and energy policy in Washington DC, combined with supply chain issues that have slowed many projects down, combined with a commonsense downsizing of this local Longleaf Drive project based upon 2007 traffic projections compared to 2020 actual traffic counts --the cost of this project came in significantly lower than what was originally programmed, leaving an excess of funds of around $5.6 Million.  (see breakdown, below)

So now comes the bold, brass balls approach to accelerating and supercharging some lingering, desperately needed infrastructure projects utilizing this excess LOST money.  Any time it is difficult and strenuous and requires a lot of thought, planning, and teamwork---it requires something else.  Alec Baldwin said it best in Glengarry Glen Ross--it takes brass balls....    this plan coming Thursday is aggressive, intelligent, and ballsy.

Here's the setup:

Because it has been the standing practice of the board on numerous occassions--when a bid comes in low on a district project--the commissioner of such a district has typically been shown deference in re-

Longleaf Drive--Two Year Countdown to MAJOR Improvement!

Before (above) and after (below)--renderings of the proposed traffic improvement project that commences this week for Longleaf Drive in District 1.

 Longleaf Drive in District 1 is frequently a very congested road.  With houses, businesses, and four schools located on this short stretch of roadway--several times daily this road can become a parking lot.

That's why in 2007-2008 the BCC under then board member Mike Whitehead's leadership drew up a project to turn Longleaf from a 2 lane into a 4-lane road.  The area was growing, four schools were on the road, UPS had its distribution hub there, many residents used it as part of a "cut-through" between Bellview and Wedgwood, over to Hwy 29 and Interstate 10.

So at that time, the thought was that Longleaf would evolve to become part of a regional East-West thoroughfare in the county, part of a regional evacuation route out  of the County for disasters--with the Wedgwood connector being completed separately.

$13 Million from the Local Option Sales Tax, third renewal (LOST III) was set aside for this portion (Longleaf Drive) of the project, specifically. 

So what happened in the 12 years since the project was developed?

What was predicted in 2008 to occur by 2017 on this roadway did not occur.  Specifically, a 100% plus increase in daily trips from 7,700 daily in 2008 to more than 17,000 by 2017 did not happen.  The actual daily volume on this road has actually decreased by about 1% per year.  This is due in part to multiple factors, including the closure of the West Florida High School campus on this street, the abandonment of the county-wide east-west connector project, the delay of the Pinestead connector portion of this project through Wedgewood, and a shift in growth patterns more north and west from the Bellview area.

With this all said---the need for a 4-lane road with dedicated sidewalk on Longleaf has not materialized--and a better, more streamlined project can be completed with no further right of way (ROW) acquisition needed; a three lane project with a dedicated central turn lane throughout, along with sidewalks on both sides of the road can be accomplished within the currently controlled ROW the county owns. 

And this streamlined project can be completed in just 24 short months at a savings of $6 Million plus dollars---which can be applied to other desperately needed D1 infrastructure projects.

In a recently presented staff PowerPoint on this project - this modified proposal was presented, along with several scenarios where the cost savings monies can be applied to other D1 projects.

This is the direction we are going, and staff is moving this forward.

I look forward to a much better roadway through this area by late 2022!

Planning for Growth in the Northwest Portion of District 1

I will be releasing more information later this week on a citizen's advisory committee that I will be forming to provide input for managing the tremendous growth in the Northwest portion of District 1.  This will be on Next Thursday's agenda

I am bringing a resolution to the June 7th BCC Meeting to establish a 9-member citizens advisory committee to advise on and provide input upon the planning for growth in the Northwest portion of District 1.  Geographically, the area this group will focus on will be Beulah, the Pine Forest, Wilde Lake, and Longleaf areas as indicated on the above map and corresponding to precincts 43, 5, and 68.

Specifically, this group of volunteers, whom I will select from applications from the public (limited to citizens that reside in Escambia County)-- will be tasked with providing policy recommendations in the following categories of pressing interest:

--enhancing the quality of life

--addressing transportation issues of importance

--providing recommendations/advice on managing growth

--providing input to help in the development of a Master Plan for this area that will complement and
 comport with the Master Plan for OLF-8 that will be developed in the 2018-2019 timeframe.

Additionally, this  "Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee" (“Committee”) shall explore, research, provide technical or practical expertise, and make recommendations to the District 1 member of the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners regarding those additional issues of importance to