by David Chapman
Staff Writer
It took a marathon session but members of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization compiled a list of priority transportation projects to be funded by upcoming federal stimulus dollars Wednesday during the organization’s monthly board meeting.
With anywhere from $24 million to $30 million coming to the organization for project funding (the majority goes to the Florida Department of Transportation) as part of a federal stimulus package to support transportation infrastructure, board members — composed of officials from Duval, St. Johns, Nassau and Clay counties as well as local transportation organizations — had a deadline to submit a priority list to the Florida Department of Transportation that complied with federal regulations to receive funds. Those projects would begin shortly after funding is approved.
When the dust had settled from the extended session, the list of priority projects held true to the organization’s focus of regional, instead of individual county, needs.
“We were told $24–$30 million to spread through the (North Florida) TPO,” said North Florida TPO Chair and City Council member Art Graham. “We prioritized what we had and approached it with what would make the greatest impact on the region.”
Graham said the list (see text box) started taking shape in regards to making improvements to roads that lead to people’s jobs — such as the Jacksonville Port Authority’s road improvements to Alta Drive and New Berlin Road and Fernandina Port’s 8th Street corridor — and a focus on public safety and projects that would benefit multiple counties.
The list was approved and amended into the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which schedules the funding, but Graham said the list is dynamic and could change depending on additional information and procedures handed down from federal and state agencies.
“We have got our list, but we’ll be keeping track and doing anything possible to getting it to work,” said Graham.
North Florida TPO Executive Director Denise Bunnewith said even with the imposed time constraints, the organization’s board members did well in crunch time.
“We got through it,” said Bunnewith. “It wasn’t an ideal situation ... given the amount of time, I’m pleased with the results.”
The 29-page list of submittals was broken down by county and organization, with officials from each narrowing down their priorities to a top five list.
From there, Graham called for a five minute intermission for each group to gather and discuss their top options, then provide their top two and explain why they were important to their county and region.
As each gave their presentation, Graham began compiling a master priority list, which was then slightly altered and approved.
Both Graham and Bunnewith said they were happy there weren’t any major objections or concerns, with the list taking a regional instead of individual approach that didn’t necessarily adhere to a dollar amount per population size ratio.
“I’m glad there weren’t any major disputes,” said Bunnewith, “as we really did the best we could.”
Making them a priority
North Florida Transportation Planning Organization board members approved the following list of transportation priorities that meet federal guidelines to receive federal stimulus dollars. As a metropolitan planning organization that can receive stimulus money, it is expected the North Florida TPO will receive between $24 million and $30 million. All figures are rounded, with some of the prioritized projects combined into one.
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