Congressman Young's Transportation Requests

118^th Avenue (CR 296), Pinellas County

The Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization requests $76,000,000 for right-of-way acquisition for traffic flow improvements to 118^th Avenue [CR 296][Future SR 690], Pinellas County, FL.

Traffic flow improvements are currently being designed for the 118^th Avenue corridor from US Highway 19 to the proposed SR 686 Connector. The roadway will be reconstructed from the current six-lane divided arterial roadway to a limited-access facility with a grade-separated interchange at 49^th Street and a southbound to eastbound flyover from US Highway 19. These improvements were identified through a Project Development and Environment Study (PD&E) prepared by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in 2005.

118^th Avenue is a major east-west corridor serving multiple jurisdictions in mid-Pinellas County. This project will improve access from US Highway 19 to Interstate 275, both Strategic Intermodal System facilities, by created a limited-access roadway between the two corridors. This will also improve access to the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport, a future intermodal center, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, as well as improve traffic flow and congestion on parallel state roadways in the mid-Pinellas area.

A Project Development and Environmental study was approved by the Federal Highway Administration and completed in 2005. Pinellas County and the FDOT entered into a cooperative funding agreement in 2008 for the design of this project. Completion of the design phase is scheduled for the fall of 2010, with the right of way acquisition phase immediately following.

Federal funding is sought to support right-of-way acquisition for this project which is currently estimated at $76,000,000. Pinellas County has earmarked funding for this project through its Infrastructure Sales Tax Revenue (Penny for Pinellas) and the Florida Department of Transportation has expressed willingness to provide funds toward this project as well. Considering the cooperative nature of this project and the fact that the right of way acquisition process will be extensive, any level of funding provided for this project will assist in moving it forward toward construction.

The project has been endorsed by:

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners

The Mayor’s Council of Pinellas County

The City of Safety Harbor

The City of Pinellas Park

The City of St. Petersburg

The City of Clearwater

The Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization

Below are copies of their letters of endorsement:

Gandy Boulevard, St. Petersburg

The City of St. Petersburg requests $61,290,000 for improvements to State Road 694 (Gandy Boulevard) from west of 9th Street to east of 4th Street. The existing roadway is a four-lane rural arterial with a grass median. The proposed roadway provides six lanes (three in each direction) from west of 16th Street to west of 9th Street and four lanes (two in each direction) for the remainder of the project to the east of 4th Street. An overpass will be constructed along the mainline of Gandy Boulevard to span over 16th Street. Similarly, interchanges will be incorporated at the intersections of Gandy Boulevard with 9th Street and 4th Street. Frontage roads will parallel the mainline roadway and will function in a manner which closely resembles the existing configurations. Gandy Boulevard is a principal arterial roadway that serves as a regional transportation corridor and a hurricane evacuation route for Pinellas County residents and provides access to the rapidly growing Gateway area of northern St. Petersburg and central Pinellas County.

This project will promote the safe and efficient movement of people and goods in the Tampa Bay region. Pinellas County and Hillsborough County residents utilize Gandy Boulevard on a daily basis as they travel east and west across Tampa Bay. In 2007, the average annual daily traffic on Gandy Boulevard exceeded 30,000 vehicles per day on the segment located on the segment between 4th Street and Dr. MLK Street. According the Pinellas County MPO’s 2008 Level of Service (LOS) Report, the segment of Gandy Boulevard from Dr. Martin Luther King Street to Fourth Street is a LOS “D”. By increasing the capacity of this corridor, traffic congestion will decrease, as will the mobile source emissions associated with vehicular delay. Pinellas County residents will also be able to evacuate more safely and efficiently during a hurricane or emergency situation.

A capacity addition is also needed to ensure that Gandy Boulevard will adequately serve the rapidly growing Gateway area. According to projections developed by the Pinellas County MPO for the 2025 Long Range Transportation Plan, employment in the area located immediately north of Gandy Boulevard between Dr. Martin Luther King Street and 28th Street is expected to increase from 1,553 employees in 1999 to 6,347 employees in the year 2025, a 309 percent increase. Employment in the entire Gateway area is expected to increase from 13,738 employees in 1999 to 32,830 employees in 2025, a 139 percent increase.

Below is a letter of endorsement by the city of St. Petersburg:

Isle of Capri Bridge, Treasure Island

The City of Treasure Island requests $1,920,000 for the wholesale replacement of a bridge that serves as the only entrance and exit to the community of the Isle of Palms within the City of Treasure Island. A recent Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) serviceability rating for the bridge, completed in 2008, gave the rating as a 58.0 out of a possible 100.The bridge is determined to be functionally obsolete by the FDOT. The bridge is over 50 years old and is showing signs of degradation in the superstructure as well as the approaches. Concrete spalling has exposed reinforcing steel in the lower levels of the support superstructure, which is continuing to corrode, exacerbating the concrete cracking and spalling. The project activities would include the engineering, permitting, construction and demolition of the existing bridge.

The Island of Capri has only one access across the bridge in question. It is important that reliable safe access is maintained to and from the island for the 1,900 residents that live there.

Below is a letter of endorsement by the city of Treasure Island:

Pass-A-Grille, St. Pete Beach

The City of St. Pete Beach requests $2,240,000 for the complete reconstruction of Pass-A-Grille Way from the Pinellas Bay Way to 21^st Avenue. This portion of Pass-A-Grille Way is approximately one mile in length and is the primary road serving over 3,000 residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors to the southern portion of the City. The current roadway is approximately 24 feet wide, with two drive lines and no provision for legal bike paths. The proposed project would provide two traffic lanes, while installing new sidewalks and bike lanes to greatly enhance the intermodal transportation options available. In addition, it is anticipated that enhanced decorative lighting and landscaping will be installed to improve aesthetics and market the area, as well as various drainage improvements. Stormwater collection capacity will be increased to alleviate potential flooding of the street during major storm events. As the only evacuation route for this portion of the City, the drainage improvements are critical.

This is the only street to provide ingress and egress to the Pass-A-Grille area of the City and is a hurricane evacuation route to get to the nearest point of egress which is the Bayway Bridge. Congestion on this street must be avoided at all costs during a storm event.

Below are letters of endorsement by the city of St. Pete Beach and the Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization:

Pinellas Bayway Bridges

The Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization requests $125,000,000 to replace two bascule bridges on the State Highway System with fixed span bridges. Pinellas Bayway (SR682) from west toll plaza to 41st Street South, includes the replacement of a two lane bascule bridge with a four lane fixed span bridge. Pinellas Bayway (SR679) at the Gulf Instracoastal Waterway includes the replacement of a two lane bascule bridge with two lane fixed span bridge.

SR682 is an existing 2 lane east/west bascule bridge proposed to be replaced with a high level fixed span bridge with project limits from the West toll plaza to 41st Street South. SR679 is a north/south bascule bridge proposed to be replaced with a 2 lane high level fixed span bridge at the Gulf Intracoastal waterway. The north/south bridge (SR679) provides the only access to the Tierra Verde island community and one of the region’s largest recreational areas including Fort DeSoto Park and its nationally recognized beaches. The park attracts residents and visitors from throughout the region and the nation. The east/west bridge (SR682) provides a connection between the southern gulf beach communities and the mainland areas. Both bridges have direct connections to the Interstate Highway System.

Both bridges also serve as hurricane evacuation routes. In the case of the north/south bridge (SR679), it is the only means of access to and from the island and as such is critical for not only evacuation but for any emergency access to and from this area. The bascule bridges malfunction often cutting off access to the mainland for the island residents and impacting the ability of fire and rescue personnel to service these areas. The east/west bridge is operating over capacity as the roadway on either side of the bridge has been widened to four lanes. The replacement of the 2 lane bridge with a four lane bridge will help alleviate congestion and reduce the incidence of crashes in the area.

Below is the letter of endorsement by the Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization:

Tyrone Boulevard, St. Petersburg

The City of St. Petersburg requests $11,600,000 to remove the Tyrone Boulevard (U.S. Alt. 19/S.R. 595) bridge at 72nd Street and provide a Pinellas Trail overpass at this location. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) conducted an alternatives analysis for the bridge removal project and selected Alternative No. 4, Modification No. 2 after an extensive public involvement process. This alternative consists of the removal of the existing bridge over the Pinellas Trail and the reconstruction of Tyrone Boulevard at grade. The service roads on both sides of Tyrone Boulevard will be made continuous north and south. A slip ramp for access to and from northbound Tyrone Boulevard and the northbound service road are included in this alternative. Two way access between the northbound service road and 71st Street is also provided. A pedestrian bridge will carry the Pinellas Trail over both Tyrone Boulevard and the service roads. Other pedestrian features include continuous sidewalks along the service roads and access to the pedestrian bridge via stair towers adjacent to the service roads and via sidewalks to where the bridge ramp meets the Pinellas Trail.

The Tyrone Bridge replacement project is a part of a larger Tyrone Boulevard rehabilitation project. FDOT completed a rehabilitation project for Tyrone Boulevard from 5th Avenue North to Park Street. In addition to repairing or replacing concrete slabs and providing drainage improvements, FDOT resurfaced the service roads, improved transit and pedestrian facilities, added and extended turn lanes, installed new mast arm traffic signals and added a third through lane northbound on Tyrone approaching 38th Avenue North. The requested improvement, removing the existing bridge at 71st Street and reconstructing Tyrone at-grade is a separate project that is not programmed in FDOT’s five-year work program.

Tyrone Boulevard is a major corridor in St. Petersburg that supports regionally significant retail (Tyrone Mall) and industrial park (Tyrone Industrial Park/Raytheon) development. The bridge currently is a barrier to accessing the adjacent properties resulting in underutilization and deterioration. The bridge is structurally and functionally obsolete. It does not meet FDOT design standards for shoulder width or sight distance. The grade is too steep, which contributes to speeding problems in the area. There is also a significant amount of traffic congestion on Tyrone Boulevard. This segment of Tyrone Boulevard carries over 37,000 vehicles per day and functions at a level of service “F,” based on the Pinellas County MPO’s 2008 Level of Service Report. The project also includes relocating the Pinellas trail from an underpass to an overpass facility at this location. According to a 1999 survey, 45 percent of Pinellas Trail users use the trail for utilitarian (non-recreational) purposes. This helps to decrease the number of personal vehicles on roadways, which reduces mobile source emissions and lessens the need to provide expensive roadway capacity additions. An overpass will make the Pinellas Trail a safer facility for its users by eliminating conflicts with Tyrone Boulevard motorists at 72nd Street.

Below is a letter of endorsement by the city of St. Petersburg:

U.S. Highway 19

The Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization requests $132,000,000 to construct two segments of U.S. 19;

1) from north of Sunset Point Road to south of Countryside Boulevard (with frontage roads and at grade interchange at Enterprise road)

2) from north of SR580/Main Street to north of CR 95 (with frontage roads and grade separated interchange at Curlew Road).

This project involves the reconstruction of U.S. 19 from a six lane divided arterial roadway to a partially controlled access roadway with frontage roads and interchanges at major intersections. The two segments combined are approximately 3.32 miles in length. U.S. 19 is a part of the National Highway System and the State’s Strategic Intermodal System, which is a statewide network of highways, railways, waterways, and transportation hubs of regional and statewide significance that handle a majority of Florida’s passenger and freight traffic. U.S. 19 carries between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles per day and serves as major truck route for freight movement.

The project will enhance traffic and pedestrian safety through construction of a grade separated interchange at one location (Curlew Road) and an at grade interchange at the other (Enterprise Road). The interchange improvements, along with construction of the frontage road system will eliminate a number of conflict points and modify access from adjacent properties, providing access to the frontage roads rather than mainline U.S. 19. The improvements will also increase the roadway’s capacity which is expected to contribute to a reduction in accidents.

Currently, development along U.S. 19 is limited by the county’s growth management requirements and the roadways deficient level of service. Because of the level of service deficiencies, development in many areas is limited to 50 percent of what is allowed by local zoning and land use. Once the improvements are done full development rights will be restored. U.S. 19 is currently operating at a deficient level of service with significant delays during the morning and evening peak hours. Delays also often occur during non-peak times, as well as during seasonal fluctuations in traffic.

The improvements will result in improved travel times for motorists and freight carriers. U.S. 19 is the most heavily used truck route in the county due in part to its connections to adjacent counties. Thus, the improvements will result in an improved travel corridor for the trucking industry.