The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will hold a public information meeting regarding US 41 ByPass from Center Road to Gulf Coast Blvd. and from Gulf Coast Blvd. to Bird Bay Drive West to inform the public about the projects progress. The meeting will be conducted as an open house from 5 - 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at the Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomis Avenue South, Venice, Florida. As carefully studied, this analysis is presented by: ~ Rod Warner a Sarasota County Representative Citizens Advisory Committee Sarasota Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization 3648 Tangier Terrace Sarasota, Florida 34239 Overview: The US 41 By-Pass roadway project in Sarasota County begins at Center Road (Mile Post 0.443) and extends northward to Bird Bay Drive West (Mile Post 2.766). The existing roadway consists of 2.333 miles of four-lane roadway and one bridge culvert. The project will upgrade US 41 By-Pass by reconstructing the four lanes and adding two lanes to make it a six-lane section. The project will consist of two separate construction contracts as noted above. FDOT will construct the north section from Gulf Coast Blvd. to Bird Bay Drive West first. Currently there is no funding for construction of the south section from Center Road to Gulf Coast Blvd. (The analysis that follows uses cost estimates in the FDOT Transportation Improvement Program Report July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2019, for ROW and Construction and PD&E costs said during the 2011-2012 Peer Review). The FDOT plans the Bypass project of 2.32 miles in two segments: North segment 4: Gulf Coast Blvd to Bird Bay 1.136 miles. South segment 6: Center Road to Gulf coast Blvd 1.187 miles. Am offering this studied commentary as a Sarasota County representative to the Sarasota Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Citizen Advisory Committee: In 2011, prior to Billy Hattaway’s appointment as FDOT District One Secretary, the MPO directed the FDOT to conduct a “Peer Review” of the Bypass widening design upon recognizing the FDOT had not complied with the FHWA 2008 “Guidance on use of Federal Funds,” had not performed design feasibility studies required by the 2010 FHWA Highway Capacity Manual and the 2010 Transportation Research Bureau Roundabout Guide, had not honored MPO policy#2002-04 that any intersection change requires a feasibility study of the roundabout design alternative, and the PD&E process had flawed stakeholder input and contained errors. (We recommend an independent peer review of major intersection redesigns). My advocate website US41SimpleTruths was posted prior to the 2011 Peer Review and remains active as there’s no reason to change these Nine Simple Truths: > Simple Truth #1: Design Trumps. > Simple Truth #2: Crossing Traffic Defeats Widening. > Simple Truth #3: Add Lanes Add Accidents. > Simple Truth #4: Width Impacts Sales. > Simple Truth #5: Timed Lights Fail When Needed Most > Simple Truth #6: Signals Unwind Slower > Simple Truth #7: It’s the Joints, Not the Pipe > Simple Truth #8: Looking Good? > Simple Truth #9: STOPlights Steal From You A Peer Review (PR) Review: Certain engineers who had designed the widening “peer reviewed” their own work. PR judgment was based on computer-modeled capacity forecasts for one “peak hour” in 2035 – over twenty years hence. Quantifying the unquantifiable? With the region’s demographics evolving, and alternative routes arising such as widening I-75, an accessible interchange #681, Pinebrook improvements, extension of Honore Ave, etc. PR projected Venice Av intersection volume will double by 2035 and will remain congested regardless the intersection design. Average Annual Daily Traffic counts on the Bypass had been declining over the previous five years. Aging drivers use their vehicles less. See rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/PassengerTravelFactsFigures_0.pdf PR deemed roundabouts were feasible for intersections north of Venice Ave, but rejected that alternative on grounds that: Will take too long to redesign for roundabouts. All US41 Venice Bypass intersections should be signalized because the users are familiar with signals. PR conclusion based on capital costs alone - no consideration of ongoing operating and maintenance costs. PR dwelled on vehicles with less consideration of Venice’s aging population and those on foot and bikes: retained 12 ft. lanes like I-75 and un-buffered bike lanes. The 2.3 mile Bypass will have ped crossings only at the 5 intersections, meaning 1.2 miles from Venice Ave to Center Rd will have no protected pedestrian crossings o However, the FDOT advises it will conduct a pedestrian safety analysis within the corridor to evaluate the potential for adding mid-block pedestrian crossings. With long medians, the Bypass relies heavily on U-Turns for a driver to change direction. FDOT Venice Ave. signage shows NO U-TURN. Image The Venice Ave intersection is a signed school crossing. 9 lanes plus bike lanes and median at Venice Ave is an approx. 40 yards walker crossing. Forecast heavy property acquisition from west-side landowners to widen the entire 2.3 miles, greater at intersection for added turn lanes. Huge Per Mile Capital Cost See below FDOT $ spending calendar July 1, 2014-June 30, 2019 During the 2011 Peer Review, prior PD&E costs incurred for the 2.32 miles were said to be approx. $10 million and should be considered in addition to other costs. NORTH segment#4 Gulf Coast Blvd to Bird Bay with four signalized intersections 1.136 miles. o This Segment 4 projected total $38.1 million in 2013, raised +5.25% in 2014 to new total $40,124,382 = $35.3.million a mile after PD&E costs incurred before 2014. Assign proportionate share of PD&E $6.06m for … North Segment cost per mile of $40.6 per mile: Construction Cost projected $15,198,529 Right of Way (ROW) acquisition estimate (in progress) $ 24,925,853 62% of NORTH’s ROW/Construct cost paid to landowners & removed from the Venice & County Tax Base. SOUTH segment#6 Center Rd to Gulf Coast Blvd with one signalized intersection. 1.187 miles. o This Segment 6 projected total $ in 2014 at $24.4 million = $20.5 million a mile after PD&E costs incurred before 2014. Assign proportionate share of PD&E $3.9m for... SOUTH Segment cost per mile of $25.1 per mile: Construction Cost projected $ $10,063,098. Right of Way (ROW) acquisition estimate (in progress) $ 14,322,353 59% of SOUTH’s ROW/Construct cost paid to landowners & removed from the Venice & County Tax Base. Deduction 60% of the total ROW and Construction cost ($39.2 million) is the planned taking of commercial property value from the Venice and Sarasota County tax base – hoping to “relieve congestion” and save some driver time. That cost may not save time or relieve congestion at all. Consider: PR concluded widening the Venice Ave and Center Rd intersections will not relieve congestion. Two miles of 45 mph “design speed” between intersections remains unchanged. PR concluded that adding lanes to the Bypass will increase accidents. The experience change is wider/larger intersections with multiple longer holding lanes where vehicles idle waiting for the turn-light to change green. Crossing traffic gets its turn to cross wider intersections (see US41SimpleTruths) at five Bypass signalized intersections, four of these are in the 1.136 mile North segment. The all-red times will be longer to allow driver laggards time to clear wider intersections. Wider intersections need much longer red light time for each approach. Intersection signalization times are regulated (note past tense) by the FDOT, too often not precise to the intersection volume demand at that moment – especially outside “peak hour.” Too often nothing will be happening inside the intersection while those at red continue to wait, polluting the air. Pedestrian walk-light time must be longer to allow older person time to make it across about 40 yards of asphalt with no mid-crossing safe harbor. Not to forget, Venice Ave is still marked as a school crossing. Observation Venice officials promoting the widening dwelled on the importance of the Bypass to northsouth vehicle flow. However, congestion relief will wholly depend on management of five eastwest signalized crossings, four of which are in the 1.1 mile North segment. John Nolen’s lauded original 1925 City of Venice plan will now insert this gaping paved wide cut-through parallel to the ICW channel, another bifurcation of Venice’s 18,000 residents living on either side of the Bypass. With multiple high-speed traffic lanes, the widened Bypass thus further splits ground zero of America’s aging population en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nolen. o The MPO and the FDOT are “multimodal” now. This vehicle-focused Bypass widening does not comply with the adopted Sarasota Manatee MPO Multimodal Emphasis Corridor (MMEC) policy adopted March 2012 for US41 from Palmetto through North Port.* The FDOT best practice for an arterial lane width is planned 11ft, as US41 Sarasota. Venice Bypass lanes are to be 12ft., the same lane widths as I-75. Prediction The widening of the US41 Venice Bypass arterial will be regarded as an expensive mistake and the FDOT will never allow another. *See FDOT District One Secretary Billy Hattaway presentation to Sarasota Manatee MPO Board, September 15, 2014 youtu.be/MnvhuTOiUEg?t=54m57s Shape
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:57:22 +0000
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