Population growth has governments preparing a 2045 long range transportation plan

By CARL MARIO NUDI

With a population of a half-million people, bearing down on Manatee County, the county and municipal governments have teamed up with governments in Sarasota County to plan for transportation.

Florida Department of Transportation District 1 Secretary L.K. Nandam highlighted the importance of governments working together at the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Organization, or MPO, 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan TransForum held April 22 on the University of South Florida Sarasota-Bradenton campus.

“Our priority is to create a safe and efficient system that will serve the citizens of Florida,” Nandam told the crowd of about 100 government officials, planners, developers, and area residents. “It is very important to integrate transportation and land use.”

The 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan, or LRTP, provides the projected needs for roads, transit, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities, as well as railroads and airports, in the two-county area.

The LRTP is updated every five years, reflecting the changes in priorities and needs of communities.

“We are always working on implementing or updating the current five-year transportation improvement plan,” said MPO Executive Director David Hutchinson, after the TransForum meeting.The LRTP process will take about two years to develop.

At the TransForum gathering, representatives from all of the municipalities and the two counties presented quick overviews of the issues and concerns facing their jurisdictions.

Alan Tusing, director of public works for the City of Palmetto, told the audience the city council is looking at safety improvements in the area of 26th Street West and U.S. 41, congestion problems at U.S. 301 West and Canal Road, and construction of the Complete Streets project along 10th Avenue West.

“Traffic safety is a big issue, and we have FDOT’s (Florida Department of Transportation) support, but we have some real safety issues,” Tusing said after the meeting. “Our infrastructure is old and is going to take a lot of money to bring it up to standard.”

Hutchinson pointed out that funding for transportation comes from federal, state, and local gas tax revenue, local impact fees, and a portion of sales tax revenues.

But the advent of electrical vehicles coming in the near future will eat into the gas tax revenues, he said.

Tusing also mentioned, in his presentation, the need to replace the DeSoto Bridge and the Bradenton-Palmetto Connector study.

“The LRTP is a very important process,” he said. “Technical changes are coming very fast, and we can’t afford to not plan for them.”

Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant, who also serves on the MPO governing board, said the MPO can help facilitate the planning and implementation of the transportation needs of the two-county area.

“What the MPO does has an impact,” Bryant said.

MPOs were established in regions across the United States, through federal and state statutes, to help coordinate with government agencies dealing with transportation issues.

The Sarasota/Manatee MPO was created in 1978, when it was realized that the two-county region would be designated an urban area after the 1980 census.

In creating the LRTP, the MPO staff and consultants gathered information from the comprehensive plans of all the government jurisdictions.

They also researched quality of life issues, such as workforce and affordable housing, healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.

“It’s important to have workforce and affordable housing in places convenient to where people are working and near shopping,” said Clark Davis, interim deputy director of Manatee County Traffic Management office. “We have to think of all the ways needed to move people around.”

Hutchinson called the search for affordable housing a “drive until you qualify” process.

“People will have to live farther from their jobs, and it makes it hard because many times it’s out of the transit service area,” he said.

This puts more people in cars, creating the need for more and bigger roads.

One of the Focus Speakers at the TransForum was Carolyn Griffin, director of strategic impact for the United Way ALICE Report.

ALICE, or Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed, studied those who make more than the poverty rate but less than enough to be self-sufficient.

Griffin presented data showing that a family of two adults, one preschooler, and one infant would need to earn $60,300 a year to survive in Manatee or Sarasota counties in 2016.

That would cover per month $974 for housing, $1,199 for child care, $542 for food, $644 for transportation, $726 for healthcare, and $540 for other living expenses in the Manatee-Sarasota area. In Manatee County, about one third of residents live below the ALICE threshold.

Palmetto Mayor Bryant said affordable housing is an issue across Florida. “There’s so many workers with professional certificates who can’t find affordable housing,” she said.

Bicycle rider and pedestrian safety also was a big issue with the TransForum presenters. “Sarasota and Manatee counties have been ranked nationally as one place with the highest rate of pedestrian and bicycle crashes with deaths,” Hutchinson said. He added that these transportation plans always consider safety, but “performance has put the spotlight on this issue.”

Manatee County has increased efforts to improve its bicycle rider and pedestrian safety record. Davis said the county was committed to the national Vision Zero program goal of reducing bicycle rider and pedestrian deaths to zero.

“We think we can do more to reduce mortalities,” he said. “We are working with other government agencies and partners, such as the sheriff’s office.We’re looking at where the problems exist and where they may occur in the future.”

The MPO board approved the 2045 LRTP process in November. A public forum, featuring five experts on future transportation issues, was held in January, which was followed with an open house where residents could present their concerns on bus, bike, and walking issues. The April 22 community TransForum was the last meeting in Phase 1 of the LRTP.

Phase 2 will be completed by June 2020, and Phase 3 will be completed in the fall of 2020, with the adoption of the 2045 LRTP.

At the end of the three-hour April 22 session, TransForum attendees were given $100 in $10 MPO “bills” and asked to “buy” or vote for their most important LRTP focus area.

The results of the poll indicated that the top focus area is safety, security, and preparedness, which emphasizes increasing the safety and security of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users.

Coming in second, the equality and livability focus area highlights federal and state requirements of increasing the accessibility and mobility of people and freight.

More information about the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Long Range Transportation Plan can be found on the Internet at www.mympo.org/m/mandates/lrtp/transform-tomorrow.

The public can rank the transportation plan focus areas on the website. The slide presentations of all the speakers are posted on that site. A video of the complete April 22 TransForum meeting, also, will be posted.