The new secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, District 2, told attendees at Thursday’s joint meeting of the local chapters of the American Public Works Association and American Society of Highway Engineers that there will be plenty of projects starting this summer.
“Over the next year we are going to be letting an enormous amount of work,” said Greg Evans, the District 2 secretary for the department.
“If you combine several of our largest projects, we will be letting over $550 million in District 2,” he said.
The department plans to spend $150 million on the Overland Bridge project this year.
It proposes replacing the Interstate 95 Overland Bridge, which carries northbound and southbound traffic on I-95. The bridge spans Hendricks, King and Montana avenues in the Southbank area of Downtown.
Project development and environmental study as well as right-of-way acquisition for the southbound collector-distributor are under way. The total project cost is estimated at $213 million.
Also discussed was Florida 9B, designed to improve access to I-95 and relieve congestion on U.S. 1 and Old St. Augustine Road in southern Duval and northern St. Johns counties.
The department will spend $104 million on the project this year. The first segment of Florida 9B, from Florida 9A to U.S. 1, was funded through the second round of stimulus money.
Evans said that District 2 received tentative approval Wednesday from the state Department of Transportation to “advance-let,” or put out bids, for several projects, including the Interstate 10/Marietta interchange.
“That’s about $24 million in resurfacing contracts,” he said.
Evans explained the projects were “advance-let” because they were a part of 2013 and future projects lists.
“The funds became available and the staff at District 2 has been doing such a great job that we had projects on the shelf that were ready to let,” said Evans.
“What we have to do now is replenish the shelf. I want to have a stockpile of projects so that if there is a pot of money then District 2 can tell Tallahassee that we’ll take everything you can send us,” he said.
“We are ready to create jobs and retain jobs in District 2,” said Evans.
As secretary, Evans is responsible for the day-to-day administrative, planning, production and operations activities for District 2, which encompasses 18 counties in North Central Florida.
Evans is owner and president of Statewide Engineering Inc., a civil engineering firm in Georgia that was established in the fall of 1994.
He has managed projects in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Texas. Evans has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from Southern Polytechnic State University.
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