get a break this week. Good morning and welcome to our Monday, April 20th MO meeting. We are delighted that you've joined us this morning. Please join us with a uh prayer by Pastor Jim Harp followed by the pledge
of allegiance. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Let's pray. Father, I'm just sitting here this morning and thanking you for this beautiful day and once again for this uh beautiful uh place in which you've allowed us to live and work and enjoy life. Thinking this
morning God does uh Jesus was asked once, what's the greatest commandment? And he said the greatest commandment is this that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, with everything that you have. And the second one is like it love your neighbor as yourself. Lord, I can't
think of a better way of loving our neighbors than leading and guiding and directing and interacting in such a way that that life is good. And I pray that uh these folks that you've placed in leadership for Martin County and and beyond, Lord God, that you would give them wisdom and strength and courage and
uh just to make decisions, God, that would lead to that kind of life that you would have for us. I thank you for them. I ask your blessing upon their families once again. Give them strength, Lord. Give them wisdom. And uh Lord, we just pray that you will guide and direct this meeting and beyond all those meetings uh
behind the scenes where plans are being made and that sort of thing that Lord God, you would be the source of wisdom and direction. And we thank you this morning once again for this day in Jesus name. >> Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you. >> I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Susan, would you do roll call, please? >> Commissioner Eileen Vargas, >> present.
>> Commissioner Sarah Herd, >> here. >> Commissioner Stacy Heatherington, >> I'm here. >> Commissioner Blake Caps, >> here. >> Commissioner Edward Campy, >> here. Commissioner Christopher Collins is excused. Commissioner Ka Mayfield >> here.
>> Mayor Carmine Depalo >> here. >> Commissioner Sha Reed >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Excellent. Uh, is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Is there a motion to
approve the minutes? >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. We have uh now is the time for comments from the public. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none,
we'll proceed to the agenda. Uh agenda 8A is a draft FY2728 unified planning work program. Um yes, this item is our two-year budget. It's federally required and the
draft is coming before you this month. Can every Yeah. Can everyone hear >> now? We can. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, um this is a draft that's coming before you. This is the UPWP. It's the NO's 2-year budget. Um the final will come before you next month
for adoption. And I'll turn it over to Ricardo Vasquez, who's the principal planner of the NO, to present this item. >> Good morning. >> Morning. >> So, you get a lot of sleep this weekend. >> Why do I look like I didn't get sleep? No.
So, we have our fiscal year 27 to fiscal year 28 draft unified planning work program. And as Beth mentioned, this is our budget for our next two years. Um, it outlines all of the planning studies and activities that the NO will conduct and it's based off of the state fiscal
year from July to June. Here's a little schedule of the UPWP development. Uh, so March 13th, we submitted our draft UPWP to FDOT and Federal Highway Administration for review. uh the review and comment period is over. Uh we should have our comments
in the GAP system. So we'll update you all at the next meeting regarding what those comments were and how we what we did to address them. And then um we'll submit that final UP uh UPWP on May 11th. And then on May 12th um well we'll adopt
the final uh UPWP on May 11th and then we'll submit that final UPWP on May 12th to F. FHW FHWA for approval. and then July 1st that budget becomes effective. So our tasks remain unchanged from our
current UPWP. We have seven tasks and here they're outlined for you. I won't go through them each individually, but as I mentioned um they have not changed from the last UPWP. Some of the key projects that we have included in our budget or in our work
program or in our two-year budget is the bicycle, pedestrian, and trails master plan update. We last did that plan back in 2016. So, it is time to update that plan. And uh Bolivar there in the back was here back in 2016 when that plan was adopted and he's back to to update it.
So, thank you, Bolivar. We have our US1 congestion management strategy study number two. As you all know, we did uh that study uh US1 congestion management strategy study and public outreach number one, which was from Joan Jefferson Way up to the Martin County St. Lucy County line. Now we're going to
conduct the second part uh where it takes you from Joan Jefferson down to Lillian Court and analyze US1 in that area. We have our quarterly updates to our development review map which has been very popular. So as I mentioned that will be part of the budget. And
then last but not least we have our 2050 regional longrange transportation plan. Uh now that all the Treasure Coast NPOS have adopted their individual LRTPS now we work together and we develop a regional long-range transportation plan. So the entire draft UPWP was included in
your agenda packet. Again, we will bring the final UPWP again here before you all in May once we address uh any comments that we received from FDOT and FHWA. And we are looking for approval of the draft UPWP. And I'll be happy to answer any questions.
>> Questions for Mr. Vosquez? >> Is there a motion to approve the UPWP? >> Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> Moving on now to 8B, which is a public
involvement annual report is the um federal federally required public participation plan that the NO has adopted that one of the requirements in that plan is to have an annual report of the NO's public involvement. And um so
we bring that to you um at this time every year. So Ricardo will present this item as well. >> Yep. >> So as Beth mentioned uh our public involvement annual report is something we do annually. Uh it is a way that we keep track of our public participation plans goals and objectives and
strategies. Um, so as Beth mentioned, our public participation plan outlines how the NO will conduct all of our public involvement for our plans, our studies, and for in general, if we are going out into the public, the different strategies and different techniques that we can use. So in our public
participation plan, we have our objectives that we have set out for ourselves and then the strategies that we use to reach those objectives. So with that, the entire annual report of course was included in your agenda packet. Today I'll just go over a brief little summary regarding those objectives and the strategies. So
objective one was to hold regular public meetings with MO advisory committees to obtain feedback before we come to you all in front of the MO board. There are three strategies associated with this objective and all three were met and a couple of the plans that the committees and the board were able to give comments
on were the of course our annual transportation improvement program and then our the biggest document and most I would say most important document that the MO has our 2050 long range transportation plan. Objective two was to provide equitable access to information regarding
transportation decision-making. There are six strategies associated with this objective and all six were met. And then here I just included some pictures of the in uh events that we held throughout the year of 2025. In the top right we have our visioning session for the 20150 LRTP at the Hopetown Sound Civic Center.
At the bottom right we had another visioning session out at the Peter and Julie Cummings Library in Palm City. And then in the bottom left, we did a joint workshop for the US1 at Palm City Road proposed alternatives with the Florida Department of Transportation.
Objective three was to engage the public early and often with clarity so that opportunities exist for feedback in our transportation decision-making process. There are six strategies associated with this objective and all six were met. And again, there's some events that we held. Uh we have the Martin Cares presentation
that we uh or the Martin Cares program that we present at and we did that at the Morgate Library in January. At the bottom left, we had our 2050 long range transportation plan cost feasible plan openhouse. We did an event out in Jensen Beach during JAM and Jensen to get the word
out about the LRTP and get some surveys from the public out there. And then at the bottom right, we presented at the business development board uh commercial real estate forum to uh get input from the well to let the business community know what the NO is, what we do, and then also to inform them
about the LRTP and get input from the business community. Objective four was to use a variety of methods to engage the public. So six uh strategies are associated with this objective. All six were met. So in the
top right, that's something we do on on an annual basis. We do a walk to school day with a couple schools. Uh so at the top right, we did that one with the Jensen Beach Elementary School. And then of course we have our MO website where we, you know, advertise our meetings and post our agendas and post some pictures and any information that the MO has
going on. We have our social media. We have our Instagram and our Facebook page. Please follow and like. And then in the bottom right we have our mobility bucks activity that we use during our 2050 LRTP development which is always a very popular activity where it kind of
shows the public the importance of prioritizing and investing the little amount of money that we have to a lot of projects that are ongoing. Objective five was to gather public feedback on the program or project for Martin County Public Transit. So, we work closely with the Martin County
Public Transit Division or the Marty uh to get a list of their projects that they want to advertise in the tip. So, in the top right, that is the uh program of projects that was advertised and our last tip that was adopted. So, we work closely with them to make sure that the
part of this POP as we call it um goes through the public involvement process. So, two strategies were associated with that objective and both were met. And then last but not least, objective six is to strive to continuously improve the public participation process. This
report here and this presentation today is part of that. So in our public involvement annual report, we go through as I said through all of our objectives and strategies to see how we did throughout the calendar year and then we report those that progress to the MO board. And then uh this also allows us
or gives us an opportunity to see uh any room for improvement or things that we can add. So, um, yeah, I'll be happy to answer any questions. We are looking for approval of the annual report. >> Questions? Is there a motion to approve the annual report?
>> I'll move approval of the annual report. >> I'll second it. >> There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. We'll move on to 8 C, which is title six and other non-discrimination policy and plan
update. >> Yes. Um, federal highway requires that the NPOS's review their title six and non-discrimination policy every year. Um, and Bolivar Gomez will present this item and any changes that have been made to the plan since last year. >> Welcome back.
>> Well, thank you so much board members. Good morning everyone. Let's get back to the page here. >> Okay. All right. So, as mentioned, this item before you is the title six and other non-discrimination policy and plan. Um, as a reminder, this document
is essentially the guiding document to ensure that the Martin NO does not discriminate anyone on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability,
religion, income, or family status during the transportation planning process. Um this year staff reviewed the document and had just minor changes to the document which I'll go ahead and and show you all uh right now primarily on
table one. So this table was updated to reflect the latest 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau. the column on the lefth hand side the population five years and older um that was um uh updated to show the
latest numbers. Um also the column that says persons who speak Indo-Euro languages that one did have a minor increase as well. So we did update that uh column as well. And then all the way to the uh right hand side uh persons who speak other languages also did have a
increase as well. So that column was also updated. So uh this section of the document was updated as well as the uh title six uh training log which is reflected here on your screen. Um we like to keep a running log of all the
training that the no staff has participated in um that deal with title 6 uh training. Um so for the trainings that we did in 2025 a lot of them were done uh through webinars. Um those were updated here on on this table here.
So, those are the changes to the title six plan. Um, I did also just want to mention that um staff also did reach out to the federal highway administration staff that oversee the title six program and they didn't have any additional language to uh to add at this point in time. Um, so today we are asking for uh
your all's approval to um the title six plan uh update and I'm happy to answer any questions as well. >> Questions for Mr. Gomez? I have one question. We're so acronym rich in these organizations. What's LEP? >> So LEAP stands for limited English
proficiency and it's essentially anyone that's uh their main primary language is not English. >> Mhm. >> And did you say that our uh leap number has increased substantially since the last one? >> The uh so there was a increase in the three columns that I reflected which I
can go back to here. There we go. >> Yeah, the three columns here on on the left as well as the uh Indo-U languages and then also the percent of persons who speak other languages. Um I believe the the percentage of persons who speak Indo-U languages was a point like uh one
increase. So I think it went from 3 uh 0 3.1. So not a not a huge uh increase. So there was just just minor minor updates to the overall percentages for the table. >> Thanks. >> You're welcome. >> Any further questions, >> Mr. Reid?
>> Yes. On on agenda um 8A, there's a acronym page on page 19, too. I just emailed the NO so they could send me a digital copy, but it's cool to have this so we have all the acronyms. >> Okay.
action item on this. Do you need a motion? You >> have a motion, right? >> Yeah. >> I will move staff's recommendation for approval. >> Second. >> There's a motion in a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> Thank you so much.
>> Now we'll move on to 8D, which is Florida Department of Transportation MO joint certification. >> Yes. In order to get um federal and state transportation funds, the NPO goes through a federal audit every four years. And every year we go through an
annual state audit. And part of that audit is um forms that say that the um state FDOT and NO jointly certify that we're following the federal regulations. Um there's also other forms that say we don't spend our planning fund federal
planning funds on lobbying as well as um utilizing disadvantaged enterprise um businesses with some of our work. So um so these forms are included in your agenda packet and staff is um requesting that the board authorize the chair to
sign the forms for this year. The ones in your agenda packet is from last year. I just wanted to show you some examples of the forms, but these forms will be included in the final UPWP which will come before you next month for final adoption for the short range transportation improvement program which
will come before you for adoption in June and also our federal audit pack certification packet um will include these forms as well. So, this is just kind of a housekeeping issue to ask you all if you could please authorize the chair to sign these forms. And like I said, copies of the forms are a part of
the agenda packet. Um, on item D. Is there a motion to approve the authorization of the MO chair or designate to execute the state certification? >> There is. So moved. >> A second. >> There's a motion and a second. All those
in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We'll now move on to 8E which is a resolution requesting green mast arms. >> Um yes, this is um an item that's kind of um come before you all um for the
last I'd say you know like 12 or 15 years or so. And in this particular case, um the the projects that FDOT is working on that were NO priorities are the intersection of US1 and Caner Highway as well as the intersection improvements at the intersection of US1
and Joan Jefferson Way. And um at the um FDOT is asking if um part of that um priority, if you will, was having green paint for the mastarmms at these intersections. And all of the mast arms for the traffic signals in Martin County are green. In the past, you all have
written letters about specific projects asking FDOT to include the green mastarmms. So, um, with this time, I I I thought it would be good to have a resolution stating that you all, uh, would like the green mast arms at these two intersections, but also request that
all future um, no priority projects that include new mass arms or mass arm replacements that they would also um, be green, that the FDOT would pay for the green paint because if they don't, then the local government will need to pay for the green paint. So, um, I'll be
happy to answer any questions. F DOT is um here as well, FOT staff. Um so this is just kind of a housekeeping issue that um and and then in the list of project priorities that you all adopted the draft of last um uh the last meeting and we'll come before you for final
adoption in June, you'll notice the specific um projects that include mass arms. We spec specify that they're green mass arms. So that way FDOT will include that in the scope of the project. Any questions about resolution 2607?
Is there a motion to approve? >> Move approval. >> There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. And next up is E, which is bridge
rehabilitation for the county road 707 Dixie Highway over the St. Lucy River. Yes, this is a discussion item and it's an update by FDOT and their consultant about the rehabilitation of the old bridge or the um Dixie Highway Bridge, the draw bridge that goes over the St.
Lucy River. And with that, I'll pass it over to Lance Jones of EPO. >> Hey, good morning. My name is Lance Jones and I'm here. >> I don't think that mic is on. >> Yeah, I don't think it's Let's make sure that your mic is hot. >> Just speak real loudly, too. >> Right. Good morning. My name is Lance
Jones and I'm a design project manager with um FDOT and I'm here to present the old Dixie Highway, also known as the old Roosevelt Bridge. The project financial ID number is 4550-587-2-52-01 and uh the project is located in the city of Stewart in one county over the
St. Lucy River. This is just um this is just a project location map and now we'll turn over to um Ronald Sanchez from HDR. Okay. >> Uh, good morning. Uh, so my name is Ronald Sanchez. I'm a movable bridge
engineer with HDR Consulting. I'm the engineer of record for this uh, planned bridge re rehabilitation project. So, let me just go through a few details here. There you go. >> That's okay. >> I think so. >> Okay. Thanks. So, first a little history
about the old Roosevelt bridge. Um, so it's not on this slide because we didn't find any plans for it, but originally the bridge, it was a swingspan bridge here built in the about 1918. In the 1960s that was replaced with what is what would have been the northbound
bridge. Um, however, in 19 in 1993, the northbound bridge was removed. If you've visited the the site, you would have seen the remnants of the north the original northbound bridge on the um northeast quadrant of the site. Um
currently the what was the southbound bridge is now a two-way two-lane bridge. Uh at that point that was that happened in 1993. In 96 there was a major rehabilitation of that bridge, replacing the electrical system and submarine cable
uh and replacing the uh movable movable span grading. In 2002 and 2006 there were fender repairs uh due to uh impacts to the fender system. And then in 2013 was the last steel painting. So uh you you note that the last rehabilitation
was in 96. We're now in 2026. About 30 years is a pretty uh common frequency for major rehabilitations of movable bridges that like tune-ups. And we're going to be going through some of the details about what we're doing this time around.
This is a a general summary of proposed improvements. This is really the slide from the public involvement and I'll be going through in detail uh well, not too detailed all of the items on this slide. So, I'm just going to skip past it. Uh there are two slides of a proposed
improvements. This first one includes uh the sidewalk improvement which if you've walked the bridge there are these um aluminum tea gradings. So you can actually see ribs that are uh perpendicular to the way that you're walking on the sidewalk. Those are going
to be replaced with a solid aluminum plate with a friction surface on it. So, that's an improvement to the walking surface on the movable span. We're also adding um some maintenance access improvements. Uh the most
significant one is on the on the south basu pier, the south uh just south of the movable span. Currently, you access the machinery through a manhole in the sidewalk. We're adding uh stairs can leave it off the north the what would
that be? the west face of the Bascu Pier down to a door and that's going to aid uh access and also avoid the circumstance which is there currently where in order for uh maintenance to happen they open up this hatch and they block the sidewalk. So that won't be
happening anymore. They're just going to open a little door and walk around the side without and be able to do their maintenance without interrupting or obstructing uh sidewalk traffic. They're also painting all the steel on the bridge. That's the movable span and the two uh steel spans on either side of
that one. And there are mech mechanical electrical repairs. Um the electrical repair is actually a complete replacement of the electrical control system including control desk limit switches and you know anytime that there's um an outage on the movable span
it's like 90% of the time is the electrical system. So that should be a significant improvement in the uh operational robustness of the bridge. The uh most significant mechanical repair is the replacement of the span locks. Um those are the dead that's a
dead bolt that when the span closes there's a a bar that span crosses from one span to the other to keep them aligned so that when a car drives over you don't get a a jump. We are doing uh some fender repair. None of the none of the piling needs to be
repaired, but this is really uh focused on the walkways and railings. It's more of a safety improvement for uh people who are using the fender to access the navigation lights. Uh I know a grading repair here. What we're actually doing, we did notice uh
that this the sidewalk out there is fairly narrow. Um we noticed that bicyclists uh are using the sidewalk. Uh and in one instance I saw a bicyclist come down the road uh jump up onto the sidewalk to avoid
the grading on the removal span then jump back off. So uh what we're doing is taking the uh the a portion of the open grid deck actually 4T from the sidewalk in both directions and creating solid
paths for bicyclists. Um, so you can imagine it's the open grid that you see now, but it will be filled with concrete up to the top surface of the grading, providing for a more ridable surface for bicyclists. Um, I'll pause here for a second because there were a few you'd probably be
interested in what, uh, BPAC had to say about that. Um, uh, they asked about, uh, striping, uh, actually putting bicycle pavement markings on the, uh, bridge itself. And
uh the department's position is that uh bicycle pavement markings should be installed as a larger project. Uh because if we just put it on the bridge, which is the one component here that's owned by the department, it would just be on the bridge and there would be discontinuity of the pavement markings.
Although the department is open to pavement markings being placed on the bridge at a later date. Um the other concern that that we had was if you install these pavement markings in different phases, there'd be maintainability issues of the of the continuity of the
pavement markings. Okay. Um the existing bathroom in the control house is uh a marine burner system and we're it's actually the last uh bathroom uh like this uh in the department's movable bridge inventory.
We're installing a sanitary line connecting that toilet to the city of Stewart's pump station on the northeast quadrant of the bridge. Um we are also uh had noted that uh there is uh spalling
well more small spalling and cracking on some portions of the deck uh mostly on the south side. And it's likely this is caused by uh Boers who are exiting the marina and then their
boats are filled with salt water and as they tilt up the span they the salt water uh exits the boat lands on the bridge and causes corrosion. Uh the department performed a uh corrosion study on the deck to see how far those
corrosive elements have penetrated the deck surface uh determining that has not reached the steel mat. So what we're what the plan is to apply an epoxy coating to prevent further uh intrusion of corrosive elements to to save the deck and preserve it.
>> Sorry. >> No, >> that's for me. >> Is that it? Oh, that was it. Okay. Sorry. I thought for some reason I thought there was a third slide. My bad. All right. I ran up here too fast. I don't like to do this one from memory because I'm a
structural engineer and when we do these environmental ones I like to read it. So you'll forgive me one moment. >> Uh sorry I should have been better prepared probably. >> Okay. >> Okay.
Uh when rehabilitating a bridge FD considers all environmental aspects including the marine environment. Standard protocols will be followed for the protection of local wildlife species. Examples of local wildlife species that are known to be present in the pro present in the project area are small
tooth sawfish, sea turtle, manta ray, and manity. If required, there'll be monitoring for manatees, sea turtles, and manta rays. In 2016, there were no seaggrass, coral, or central fish habitat identified in the project area. I'd actually like to update that because I think it was the the TAC that asked
about the uh the fact that the seaggrass the bentic survey had been performed so long ago. Um we had not per uh when was 25 >> 24 >> 24 okay there was an update in 2024
uh kind of gives you an idea how long we've been working on this project. uh and they found no uh so the impacts for this project are localized to the navigational channel and really the only impacts that we're expecting is temp
barges placed uh attached to the fender system while they're doing the fender repair. So there'll be no penetration of the mud line or really sha shadowing effects. Um the reason that we're uh rather unconcerned is that at those depths we don't expect to see to see
seaggrasses and the the 2016 and the 2024 benthic survey both uh corroborated that assumption. Uh so um this slide has duration and phasing of construction. You'll see two uh columns of colors green and blue.
those are separated in uh into the impacts that you'll see to traffic. So on the top squares you'll see on the green side you'll see that we're in that uh traffic configuration. We're painting
the steel, filling and grading for bikes, shimming the movable span, uh, and doing bridge tender house renovations which really are, uh, isolated to the renovations required for the electrical system replacement, control desk, uh, you know, things like that.
Um, that will be performed under bridge closure with a full detour and uh, single leaf openings. I want to there we now let me let me just cover a couple things here. So we have a how long it
will take there four to five months. The reality is that these durations will be adjusted by the contractor. Um uh and there will be amp uh ample opportunity for coordination between the
county and the CI and the contractor once the project is let uh that's made. Well, you'll see that in a second, but the letting is May 8th. There'll um there will be a uh public liaison as a member of the staff of the
CI who will be reaching out to you all. There will be additional uh open houses. Uh there will be opportunity for um the lots of opportunity for coordination. I'm I'm actually currently involved in
two uh Bascule Bridge uh post-design services. These are Basco bridges that are in construction. There's a lot of coordination that happens between stakeholders, the contractor and the the FDOT's representative who's the CI.
Um what else did I want to say here? There was another thing. Oh, the single leaf openings. So right now the uh old Roosevelt has a 90 foot horizontal channel. Uh if you cut that in half
because you have a single leaf opening and the single leaf opening by the way is required because when we're filling that concrete in those paths the concrete h the bridge has to stay down for the setting of that concrete. It's also much more effective for the painting for the bridge to remain down
for long periods of time because they're going to have enclosures mounted to the bridge. Like imagine a tent where they're painting the bridge. So it's difficult every time the bridge has to open they have to exit. Um uh the reason we believe that will not
create a significant impact to the St. Lucy River is because the FEC bridge so I mentioned that we're single leaf opening gets you down to 45 ft. The FEC railroad bridge has a 50- FFT horizontal clearance. So, it's a fairly similar uh channel opening, which is already a you
know hard physical limitation to people traversing the St. Lucy River. In blue, we have um a traffic configuration where there will be intermittent movement. What this really means is that there will be one lane
will be closed on the bridge uh and off peak times. Uh that closure will be for the contractor to load and un offload equipment. You know, this is a fairly long bridge. Uh they'll need a way to uh a place to mobilize from. So that we're going to provide them with one lane. The
other lane will be birectional with flaggers during these operations. Again, this is during off- peak times. We expect both of these phases to take about uh four to five months um of time which which we'll be experiencing as an impact.
That's an estimate may obviously may change. Well, not obviously, but uh could change uh based upon the approach and methods that the contractor chooses to select quick back to my notes.
>> Mr. Sanchez, there's a question. Mr. Heatherington, >> can you back go back to that last slide? I just want to be sure I understand that. So those are four and five months and an additional four months. >> Yes. >> So 8 to 9 months and on the four to five
months the bridge will be completely closed to automobile traffic. >> Yes. >> And in the up position >> um one leaf uh >> at a time. >> At a time. >> So the boats can still go through but
>> Okay. So, so boats will still be >> necessarily true that the bridge will be up the entire time. It will op but one leaf will be operable the entire time. >> So boats can still pass under. >> That's right. >> Cuz one section will be >> That's right. >> Oh boy. If anybody ever knows when the
Steuart Boat Show closes that it's going to be >> so pretty. We met with the >> four months >> with the organizers of the boat show recently. We pointed out to them that uh in the special provisions or the specifications for the contract, there
are restrictions that work cannot occur during several events. One of which is the boat show and those events were coordinated by our uh public involvement team with uh the county uh during the development of the design. But but our
residents what my point was residents experience that when the boat show happens and those uh spans are closed for long periods of time the Ros the federal highway becomes very congested going north and south in that area. So we might want to look for some
alternatives to in addition to federal highway as well for that four to fivemonth period. >> Yeah. So I mean our current detour plan does take traffic over Roosevelt. the most obvious detour. Um there will be
I'll say that the specifics of notification can be worked out directly with the CI and the contractor uh during uh pre-construction activities. So we I think we have a a slide on timeline, but I'll talk about it briefly right now so you know what to
expect. So the project will let on May 8th. That means when it's released to contractors for bidding. I think there's a 60-day on this one. >> A 30-day ad. >> 30-day. That's right. So, there's a 30-day ad. We're expecting someone will request an extension of that. Um, so,
you know, in one or two months, we'll get the bids. The contractor will be selected. There'll be contract signing. Uh, imagine another 3 months after that. So, we're talking, you know, August, September, you'll actually have an executed contract. And then there'll be 6 to9 months of procurement time.
meaning the contractor is on board, but they're developing shop drawings, getting approval for materials, ordering materials. Some of the materials on the on the in the electrical system are fairly long lead time. Think 8 to 9 months waiting for something to to be
delivered. So, we're into the following uh year uh and we have been uh notified that offseason work is preferred. Yes, >> we we're we suspect that's going to work
out fine. Um but there isn't anything in the plans right now that enforces that. So that's something that needs to be coordinated um with with the contractor. Um >> can you put that in the contract?
>> Um it's it's highly unusual to put that kind of limitation in the contract, >> but can you >> I I I cannot. The DOT perhaps can. Sounds like it's really going to be disruptive. >> Uh most make anomaly. >> Yeah, I don't Yes, it will be
disruptive. There's no I mean I don't think there's any question that you know taking out one of the the crossings for any period of time is going to be difficult. >> Any question? Any more questions? >> Well, I'm just speaking for myself. anything that we can do uh contractually
to make sure that this the bulk of the work is can only be uh accomplished during the off season would be much appreciated. >> After Easter, right? >> Yeah. >> After Easter and into the summer
>> after Easter. I mean, it sounds like procurement takes forever. So, it should be fairly easy to schedule uh construction, the work to be done at a a date that's not in the height of the season.
>> Would you get on the record, please? >> You have to speak into the mic. >> I was saying we're going to have to go through like a season because um the contract um estimation is currently like a year. So, it's going to be a point where we have to work through the season. Yeah. So let me let me clarify what so
what he's saying is that while these are the impact times the actual contract duration is 380 days I can't remember. So say a year >> and that includes procurement. >> Yeah. >> You said procurement can take up to eight months. >> That's correct.
>> Let's see. >> Commissioner Heatherington. Can these phases um the sidewalk uh stairs and can they be done simultaneously with the painting and grading?
>> Yeah. So the potentially potentially but we do not typically dictate that kind of work when we don't have to because uh it's the it's um how do I put this?
We are typically asked not to dictate means and methods for the contractor as a designer. >> That would reduce the the impact time nearly in half. I I think as a recommendation at least from myself and
this board would be to uh encourage the something in the specs of that item. Was it was it already bid out? I I I have never created a contract plans that dictated schedule for the >> FD. Was the project already bid out? >> No.
>> Are the specs designed? So what if you put that into the scope and I have never done that? >> I've never put a specific contract schedule. In fact, when I have done it, uh contractors have changed it and the
FDOT allows those changes. Now we can put in days in the special provisions like specific events where we say don't work during these periods because these are periods of times that are important to the to the the stakeholders but we have not dictated
construction schedules in the contract plans. >> These bring huge impacts to our community. I I think it would be worth a try. Commissioner Vargas. >> So, so you can make an exception here is is what I'm understanding. I mean, it's
a big concern. We don't have any luxury. >> What type of road? >> What type of exception are we doing? >> In so far as saying certain periods of time not to start or continue some type of work. We're talking about a boat show in this particular case. It's a very narrow corridor as it is. Let me let me
>> and I understood what you said about the uh FDOT allowing the contractor to change but >> yeah I think I'm giving you the impression that you have no power here and that's that's not accurate. Um the I'll give you an example.
Um I'm currently involved in uh Lassolas which is uh you know the city of Fort Lauderdale. It's that it's very similar circumstance where the road is owned by the city and the bridge is owned by the
department because the city didn't want to take responsibility for maintenance of the bridge. So similar very similar circumstance and they have recently asked for a 4-month delay uh to
move the uh to get the work out of season and that was approved and the DOT ended up compensating the contractor for that. And uh and the reason that was could be done during construction because the construction
schedule can then be negotiated directly with the contractor. That's why it was done during construction not during our design. So um we understand that all of your recommendations are being noted right
now and all of this will go back to the department and there'll be a lot of discussion in the department about your desires and how to accomplish it. I cannot right in front of you right now make promises. I'm I'm not able to I'm telling you that I've never done this before as you know honestly. Does that
mean it cannot be done? I I just that it's outside of my power currently. and I've just I've never seen it done before. I know what the construction people in DOT are going to tell me as soon as I go back. Having said that, that doesn't mean that it means I'm powerless, not that you are. and that
the greatest that noting this concern will have weight with the CI, with the department, and with the contractor. And that that negotiation is probably best handled by me going back to the department, expressing your concerns, and getting
feedback, >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Okay. So, I'm trying to be practical here so we don't belabor the point. Who will be getting back with Chairman Herd, let's say, of Martin County? We're having the discussion now. It's imminent.
>> I don't know. You think just it would be a do we need a letter from them or an email to respond to or could we just take the notes and go back to them with that? >> You just take the respond. >> So, that that will come from you. >> Yes, I can respond. >> Okay.
>> So, Lance Lance who Lance is the FDOT PM. He'll be responding to the county. He'll be responding to whom? >> Well, we coordinate with Beth normally, but we can it can be someone else if we >> I would appreciate that if you could bring in the loop our chairwoman also. >> Okay. >> It's a big concern.
>> Okay. >> Beth, >> I'm sorry it's hard to hear you. >> The contact information. >> We can get the contact information from Beth. >> Yeah, absolutely. Please proceed. >> Okay. Thanks. Uh >> I think you've hit on that one.
>> Did I? I think I was just about to. Don't worry, it's not much left. I'll be out of here in a minute. All right. >> So, um this is a map of the temporary traffic control plan. ship should be fairly obvious that the detour uh would
go over US1. Um uh in addition to the temporary traffic control plan that you just saw, uh there'll be advanced notification coordination with the fire and police prior to detours and closures. That will happen between the CI the CI uh liaison
and those entities. And I, as I noted, an additional public information meeting will be held prior to construction by the CI team. The benefits of the project are extending bridge life, keeping marine traffic flowing, and an improved
facility for all users. Uh we're going over the project schedule again. Anticipated design completion in early 2026. Anticipated construction period is fall of 2026 through spring of 2028. those uh impact durations fall within that period and estimated
construction cost of $11 million. That's the that's the end of my uh presentation, but of course if you have any more questions. >> Questions for Mr. Sanchez? >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thanks. All right. Bye. >> Thank you.
Okay, let's move on to uh HG, which is the Willoughby Boulevard extension PD&E presentation. Uh yes, this is a discussion item and this was actually requested at the last board meeting. Um the PD&E study included a traffic report and the last time you all heard a
presentation about the Willoughby extension they had not finished the traffic report but they have now and so Venita Sen um Venita Snee is here that she's the project manager for EPOT will introduce this item and EPDOT their consultant will produce an update for
you um of what's going on with this project. >> Good morning and thank you for your time. My name is Venita Siny. I work for the Florida Department of Transportation and I am the DOT PM for Willoughby uh Boulevard PD study. I'm here with the project team who will introduce
themselves. I have the PD project manager. I've um got the environmental specialist and the traffic specialist. So when they come up they'll introduce themselves. So we are here to uh give you an update on the Willoughby Boulevard PD project. Uh the limits are
from State Road 714 Monterey Road to US1 Federal Highway in Martin County. Uh the project uh location is within the limits of Stewart and Martin County. And this map shows uh the two corridors that are
under study. Each corridor is divided into segments uh depending on what segments being has a full uh new construction and what segments are reconstruction. Um and corridor one uh in is in green and it includes reconstruction of
existing Alahhamre Avenue which is about a quarter mile. Um it also includes a construction of a new roadway from San Jose Street to US1 um to the north right here. And then corridor 2 uh includes construction of a new roadway
from Martin County High School entrance to State Road 714 Monterey Road which is about a quarter mile. And then it also includes reconstruction of Ray's Way from uh 7 State Road 714 Monterey Road to Central Parkway, which is another
quarter mile. And then it includes reconstruction of existing Central Parkway, which is about a quarter mile section. And then also constructing a new roadway from Central Parkway to US1, which is about a half mile. And that's the section that um overlaps with
corridor 1. Um with that, I'm going to uh bring Chris and he'll go over his slides. >> Thanks, and thank you guys for having us back here. Um I'm Chris Rizzo. I'm with AECOM. We're the consultant for DOT on
this project. We also have our subject matter experts. Domingo Noriega is our traffic lead and Keith Stannard is our environmental lead. If you have any specific questions related to those um so also in addition to those two corridors, we are looking at the no build alternative on this which is
exactly how it sounds. You don't build anything. Um but I want to go through the objectives here really quickly of this uh of this study. So the PDN study objectives are to accommodate the projected increases in growth and travel demand in the area. Improve network connectivity by introducing another
north south corridor in the area. Enhance mobility by providing those alternate routes not just for motor vehicles but also bicyclists and pedestrians and also to enhance safety which includes providing alternate routes for emergency vehicles. I want to go through the quick crash history. I
think you guys have seen this before, but you can see on this heat map the uh the clusters of crashes at the intersections and about a quarter of all the crashes in this 5-year study period. The crash data initially was done from 2019 to 2023. Um about a quarter of
those resulted in injuries and there were unfortunately four fatalities in the area. But if we drill down, I'm going to look at bike and ped uh crashes because bicycle safety is a secondary need as part of the purpose and need statement, which is the official statement that you start a PD study
with. Um you can see seven out of 10 bike or ped crashes result in injuries, which is which are noted here with those red icons. Um so our goal is to increase safety for all users and especially for bikes and peds because they're disproportionately injured in any crash.
Obviously, car versus bicycle is not a a good situation to be in. But specifically, I want to drill down into some traffic analysis. We did we used we've done our traditional traffic analysis. Then we use what's called a micro simulation in a computer model called VISM. Uh it's an acronym. I don't
know what it stands for, but it's called VISM. And it's it's a little traffic simulator where we model a proposed project to see how vehicles move within that system. So, it's a good tool for a project like this because the intent is to expand the network and provide systemwide relief in this area you see
on the screen here rather than like a single capacity project where we would widen let's say a four-lane road to a sixlane road. Um, I'll show you a sample of how the model works here in a little bit. Um, but there are some prelim we have preliminary results uh that I just want to share with you guys. Um, overall if you look on the left there's a little
infographic. Uh, corridor 1 is projected to provide more relief than corridor 2. So, in the interest of everybody's time today, I'm just going to focus on some of the numbers and some of the results from corridor 1 versus the no build. The no build alternative, which is still very much an option, um does not provide
any congestion relief. So, also our analysis is focusing on the design year, which for this project is 2045. So, you look on the map, the on the right side, the cars in green, they indicate a projected decrease in traffic, and the cars in yellow indicate
a projected increase in traffic. Um, it does make sense. You can tell that in here some of the traffic is removed from Caner and US1 onto Willoughby Boulevard, which is why you have a slight increase on US1 as traffic um continues north on
Willoughby. Um, so I'm going to take a look. I just want to go through and this is kind of specific uh three big intersections in the area. So we're going to look at Caner and Monterey, Caner at US1, and Monterey at US1. And again, because of time limitations, I'm going to show you
no build and build um PM afternoon peak uh comparisons of the two. So, first, if you look here on your screen, we have Caner and Monteray. Um any of the roadway segments shown in red indicate vehicle stacking. Now, this is 2045 in the in the afternoon peak. Um and these
are the results of that micro simulation with corridor one in place. The congestion at central encounter which is that next intersection north of Monterey on Caner Highway is greatly reduced. So by reducing the congestion at this time
that southbound vehicle stacking, it does increase safety. It eliminates the stacking on central and it doesn't block those left turns which we've heard from some folks is an issue at our kickoff meetings last summer. Um again no build on the left, build on
the right in 2014 afternoon. So if we go up to US1 and Caner um you can see the traffic is more distributed between northbound Caner and northbound US1. Some of that northbound Caner traffic um went up the uh Willoughby the extension of Willoughby to US1 hung a left to
continue north. Um overall the expanded roadway network and and reduction in stacking does reduce overall travel time through the area. Um which I'm going to talk about that in a few slides. I have some graphics to show you there. So it's not eliminating the traffic, but in
redistributing the traffic, you have reduced delay coming through the area, you have some reduced travel times. And then if we go over to Monterey and US1, the vehicle stacking again is reduced on eastbound Monterey because some of the traffic is shown going north on um
corridor 1. And overall, we also did a predictive tra crash analysis as part of our safety um study. And we do project fewer crashes at all three intersections in the build condition. So here's this next slide. It's a little animation. This is what the model actually looks
like. It's kind of cool. If anybody ever played Sim City, it's sort of like that. But you can see the no build on the left and the build on the right. So what it does is it simulates those traffic movements in the area. And you can see in the no build how it stacks up and blocks those lefts on central in the
afternoon. And again, this is 2045. So we're looking that's 19 years now um into the future. So this runs for what is it do? Four hours I think in the peak. So we run the model to to simulate those four hours which is why you see
all that stacking. All right. Now we'll go to travel time. So the the model does give you an overall travel time analysis as well. We we picked out um just to show you guys again 2045 PM peak uh a couple of um
examples of that. So if we go from the terminus of Willoughby now Monterey to Caner in US1. So that's where we you know you're you're just predict that you're driving in there. um
uh the travel time to get from point A to point B uh is actually reduced with corridor 1 by 36%. Um if we want to take again if you take today you take you go down take a left on headed north take a left on um
Monteray and go north on Caner versus continuing north on the extension of Willoughby to US1 the travel time is reduced by 36%. If we take that same route and you decide not to drive up corridor 1 in the build condition and still use Monterey
and Caner, the model shows a travel time reduction, still not as great as using quarter one, but it does reduce travel time on that same route by 24% in the PM peak. Uh so we can expect similar results in the AM peak as well. So this
is again just a little snippet of what we have. But what we're going to do is in preparation for the alternatives public workshop which is scheduled for July uh is have all of this documented, written and available in a project traffic analysis report and I know you
guys with the with the acronym is PTAR. So if you hear anybody say PR it's the project traffic analysis report. So this will all be documented in there, the results of our traditional analysis and also of our of our model. Um, another thing that I know you had
requested was just a really quick look at the environmental analysis which is ongoing. Um, as part of any PDN study, we have to analyze potential impacts to the environment and our goal is always to avoid or minimize any potential impacts. So first we'll look at wetlands and other surface waters. um we'll have
potential impacts to one remnant wetland within the ride of way which you can see on the map on your right. It's that little green circle up there towards US1. Um that wetland is dominated by exotic species like Maluca trees. But any impacts to it will be mitigated. Um
there will be no impacts to Pppelton Creek where it's in its natural state north of the retention pond there that it's a D department environmental protection pond. Um, we won't be impacting that pond and no other treatment ponds in the area will be impacted. We will be culverting portions
of the existing canal that's directly east of the park and that design is underway right now. Moving on to the wildlife and habitat, any impacted gopher tortoises uh will be relocated and we're right now we're doing a survey for Florida bonneted
bats. There's some microphones set up in the area um that we're listening for and we also have an opportunity to relocate any state listed plants. We have a potential to maybe add some fencing or a wildlife crossing for small animals and we'll mitigate any net loss to woodsto
foraging habitat. I've also initiated a coordination as required in a PD study with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. So you'll hear FWC, that's the acronym for those guys. Um other ongoing assessments include a
noise study. We're modeling the uh future noise right now. Um historic and archaeological assessments and also going to be doing a contamination screening. We don't expect any relocations as part of the project. In other words, we don't anticipate taking any homes or
businesses. um that the rightway department at FDOT is looking at that right now and um that'll be formally determined once they're complete with their estimates. And the last thing I want to do a special slide for section 4F resources section 4F our publicly
owned land. So, in this case, the park, Popling Creek Park. Um, since we're staying within that existing ride ofway, which was dedicated for transportation in 2010, there will be no direct impacts or land acquisition from Popleton Creek Park. We're going to implement some
landscaping or fencing to keep the road in the context of the area. And we have a very low probability of any permanent impact or change of use to the park. And I just wanted to um here those photos are Pomemeroy and that's kind of representative of what we're looking at.
We're looking at this road is proposed should we go to a build alternative one lane in each direction. What we will do is like on Palomoy have a median in there that's landscaped. Um it's a lower speed and uh you know just to to mitigate any kind of visual impacts and
to show it's not going to be a boulevard next to the park. It's going to be a similar to Pomeroy down here. it'll be curb and gutter on the outside. So, uh that's what we have. That's our update. We will have available all of the traffic analyses um once those are complete and reviewed and documented
prior to the next public meeting. So, um that um any questions for me or our subject matter experts? >> Commissioner Caps, >> just a point of clarification on page 181. No relocations are anticipated.
>> Yeah. uh like um taking homes, relocating, >> okay, >> going through homes like so specifically like on Alhhamra that's a residential neighborhood >> and we can stay within the right of way. >> Would that be under either alternative or like corridor one or two >> for either alter? Yeah. And okay,
>> obviously the no build as well does not >> um result in any relocations. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So no rightway acquis acquisition is required. I thought that there was a lot. >> There will be some corner clips um for turning rad, you know, trucks to
turn and cars to turn because along Al Humber there um it's very narrow. The road is very narrow. So there might be, you know, the corner clips, little triangles on either side. And that's what's being estimated right now. And maybe a little sliver along um if corridor 2 along Ray's way, there would
be some taken uh some slivers, but not impacting any structures. also in corridor 2 where it comes off from here. I'll show you. This will be easier to show. Um >> you use the mouse wheel. >> Yeah, I got it here
in this area on corridor 2 that is through the um Baron business park is proposed down here. Does anyone see any advantages to proceeding with analyzing corridor 2?
>> It didn't seem to me that there were extraordinary benefits. >> Are you required to analyze corridor 2 and no build and corridor 1? We are the alternatives uh workshop is going to
present alternatives from corridor 2 as well as corridor one as well as the no build. So we are analyzing both corridors. Just in the interest of time we um uh was showing corridor one um for for your um presentation but we are
analyzing corridor 2 as uh Chris u mentioned. And then I wanted to clarify on the relocations. There is no residential relocations anticipated for this project from either corridor 1 or corridor 2. There may be potential um uh business
property impacts near US1. Um uh the corner of US1 and the new Willoughby um boulevard extension. Um, and then like uh Chris mentioned some corner clips at the crossing crossroads uh to put in the
curb, the crosswalks and um and the signals. >> Commissioner Mayfield. >> Uh yes, thank you. Um obviously option one makes more sense, but I think quarter two was brought up and I'm also slightly concerned about
going right through a residential neighborhood. That will obviously change the flavor of the neighborhood very much so. Um, so I think that's why I still have interest in quarter two, but yes, quarter one makes more sense logically. >> Commissioner Caps.
>> Yeah. Uh, kind of goes along with what Commissioner Mayfield uh mentioned. Corridor 2 seems to have less impact to residential development. Is that is that true than corridor one? Yeah, there there wouldn't be any of
those corner clips or rightway acquisition along Alhhamra and obviously they wouldn't have a a road connecting between Monterey Road and US1 through there. Uh because it is a residential road, it is a relatively low volume
road, but we have we're looking at certain things like um maybe a mini roundabout. Uh we have the design speed at 30 miles per hour. We have a shared use path along one side to slow any traffic down through there. So that we're looking at some speed management
techniques should corridor one be the corridor that makes it as the preferred alternative at the end of the project which is that's all determined after the public hearing. So all of these will bring to the public meeting the alternative public workshop in July. >> Thank you
>> Commissioner Reid. >> Yes. I just want to say I always appreciate DO's presentations. I personally support a no build option. I think it affects too many residential units on Central Parkway where the city uh they did a lot of zoning changes from commercial to multifamily. So that's
where I stand. >> Any further discussion? Thank you. >> All right. Thanks very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We'll now take up uh 8H which is a State Road 710 projects update. Um, yes, we
have the State Road 710 uh widening project manager Rob Lopez here to give you all an update on that project. >> Sure. >> Hello, my name's uh Rob Lopez. Uh, do do you have the presentation ready?
>> Um, I don't recall seeing one sent to us. You sent to me? Oh, no. I sent it to uh Kathy. Did Did he send it to them? >> No. Okay.
Okay. No. Uh no problem. Let me uh let me see how uh >> Do you want to do this then? If we don't >> um Yeah, here. Take that. >> Can open the website. Want to go you open the website cuz uh really there
wasn't too much new >> to uh to discuss yet. It was mostly just to give everyone a quick uh refresh of where we where we were at and uh give everyone a chance to uh ask any questions. So if uh you want to open the
website real quick, I can show if you can that's fine too. Yeah. While while you're waiting for that, uh the sheriff was out in Indian Town, I believe, this weekend >> doing a uh safety presentation,
education, um speed booth in Indian Town >> with all of his deputies at um in Post Park, I believe. >> Yeah, D was out there with that page. So, okay. Um, I guess here we
got quick screen up again just to give you a quick summary of uh the corridor. Again, we have actually in the past this was broken into uh four segments. I think now you can see we have uh the
project broken into five segments. uh right now starting at and I'll just take you through each segment and kind of some of the dates and everything uh that we have there. Uh starting at the top we have what's
often called the -3 project which is primarily to widen state road 710 from uh southeast 126th to the Okachobee County line which will also include realignment of county road 714 to
southeast uh southwest 126th and uh that is currently scheduled to let in the summer of 2029. We are still finalizing the right-of-way requirements for that that segment.
The biggest challenge we have with uh with that segment and also with the next segment the -2 is this is where we currently have uh FPL transmission lines running parallel to our corridor. And so we are currently in uh discussions with
uh FPL of uh of uh how much right ofway we can uh procure from them and still ensure that they have enough uh room for future expansion of uh transmission lines for
the future growth of that area as a whole. So that that is something that we're we're trying to uh make sure they currently have a 100 ft exclusive easement. Whatever portion that we uh acquire from them will obviously they will have to lose their exclusive
easement and subordinate to the department. So we're trying to see how much can remain an exclusive easement for FPL for future expansion is uh probably the biggest step that we're going through with that uh segment. The next segment two right there similar.
This is where again the biggest challenge is again that um easement in that area. You can see we are currently scheduled to have a uh construction start or the leting to take place in summer of 2030
with the construction cost of 150 million. Again uh discussions with FPL are ongoing. Another um item that we are currently still pending a resolution is uh the Florida East Coast Railway. This segment also included an overpass to go
over the existing East Coast Railway. And I know with uh Bright Line and everything, uh FEC has been talking about more shifting freight to some of the internal some of the lines that run inside the state such as this one here.
And part of that uh plan to shift some of that freight is to uh create a spur connecting the CSX line to the uh FEC line there and uh so that that is we are
still waiting on what FEC's final plan of how to do that and there is a lot of how that overpass will ultimately look will largely depend on a lot of uh of what FC's final plan is for that for
that one point there. So that is an item that is uh still pending before we can have a final right ofway determined and kind also final construction cost the cost 150 million that you see right there is kind of assuming the worst case
scenario that uh FEC will build will go forward with all of these plans that they've been sharing with us. So, if some of those get deferred for a later date, that 150 million will probably decrease by around 20 million or so.
Um, kind of moving through this corridor, when you get to the Spring Haven Avenue, that's where the FPL uh power lines end, and that's where a lot of the project gets a little little bit uh simpler. And that takes us to uh what
used to be the -1 portion of the project. We now have it broken into -5 and uh -6 right there. And the reason we have separated that into two segments is because we have heard uh constantly that
we have to figure out way to advance certain portions of this project. What we have labeled there, the -6, is the segment that we believe has the most potential for uh potentially being advanced to an earlier date. They are
both currently scheduled for winter of 2031 for letting. But the -6 segment we have identified. It does not have uh the utility complications that we spoke about. It does not have complex agreements with the east coast railway
or CSX and it does not have any access management uh uh readjustments that uh the -5 segment would also have. So we have identified that as having the best potential as
something that could be advanced if uh funding is also advanced that could potentially take place before the -2 section there. Um and what we have or probably more along lines with the -4. The -4 is the
widening segment within Indian town. The ride ofway required for that uh segment is very minimal. the right ofway would only be needed for uh potential pond locations that we would need. Um I I can show you u some of the locations we're
thinking about for the pond if if you uh anyone's interested layer time. But again, since the -4 also similar to the -6 is fairly simple, not simple but has less complications in terms of uh utility and railway agreements and uh uh
impacts to the property owners is currently scheduled for 2029 with construction cost of 17 million. Um but again, you know, we've uh heard that uh there are fatalities taking place every day, not every day, but on a
high frequency out there and uh something needs to be also done in the short term and midterm. Uh we recently had an outreach event where we provided a little bit educational outreach. These are the flyers. I think we have if we
have any extra we can hand them out. We we're handing them out on site to uh a lot of the residents this uh this weekend to let people know a lot of the improvements we've been already doing out there. You see on the the side there recently completed, you know, uh
recently completed enhancements. Turn lanes were was added at uh Tommy Clemen Street. Road signs have been replaced to improve visibility and safety. Sign maintenance has been completed and which included uh tree trimming with a lot of the overgrown that was blocking a lot of
the signs. Reflective strips have been added to the stop signs. You can see an example of that in the picture there with that reflective uh red bar added to a lot of the signposts. Road stripings and markings have been replaced to improve visibility and reflective pavement markings have been
replaced. And you can also see a list on the right of short-term improvements that we are doing out there right now. Uh intersection warning signs. This kind of goes hand in hand. In addition to that, the tree trimming. A lot of the side
streets out there are are very difficult to notice. So we've uh and a lot of the locations where intersections have railroad crossings uh often times for people not familiar with the area can catch them by surprise. So, we have uh recently put uh these uh intersection
warning signs along the corridor. I believe that is complete. And uh being someone who's not familiar with the area, but has to drive there occasionally for uh different field reviews and meetings, I can tell you they've helped me quite a bit out there. So, I hope they're having the same effect to to other commuters passing
through the area. The speed limit markings, obviously, speeding is a is a a problem out there. So as you can see an illustration there. In addition to the uh speed uh
uh the speed signs that are out there, we will also be putting regulatory speed limit markings on the pavement for uh a lot of times drivers attention is more focused directly in front of them as opposed to the signs on the side. And that sometimes do have some overbrush
growing on them. Even though we've been doing more maintenance, they are harder to see. So, we're hoping those pavement markings get a little bit more effect. And passing ahead information signs, as you all uh know, I can kind of go back to the uh the map here. Uh passing lanes
were added recently. They are just uh just east of the FC Railway and kind of just west of Alapata roadway. we have in included but you know it's a little bit uh sometimes
people don't realize the passing lanes are there until they're right there and at that time sometimes they don't have enough time to accelerate and make the maneuver. So, we've seen uh we're hoping putting these uh passing uh ahead signs,
letting people know a passing lane will be approaching within the next mile, next two miles will will assist in people um having the right speed and preparing their um maneuver to make that uh passing. Another uh midterm safety improvement
that we're looking at right now is uh adding a turn lane to Spring Haven Avenue. Uh kind of going back to the map right here, you can kind of you can't see it here, but I think you all know where Tommy Clemens is. It's just west
of Spring Haven Avenue. And uh so similar to the improvements, we've seen a lot of positive uh positive operational improvement with Tommy Clemens. We're hoping adding a similar turn lane to Spring Haven will have a a similar similar effect. So, that's
something we're looking to try to accomplish relatively quickly. Um, and uh, with that, I think I'll I'll open it up to any questions that you might have about the corridor. Questions
from Mr. Lopez, >> Commissioner Barers. >> Okay. Are we holding uh, comments to laughter or now we can speak about this particular court? >> Sure. Go ahead. >> Okay. Um, thank you. >> Uh, appreciate it. Um
just last week I was at a recent uh FDOT open house where they were highlighting the turn lanes on 714. Um, I did meet with uh Congressman Brian Mast, uh, chief of staff and, um, Congressman Mast
is on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee. And of course, my big concern is 710 714 when I drive that. I'm a good driver, but I have to be a great driver out there. And I pray all the the way.
Um, I was just out there, well, last Friday and then I was there two weeks earlier for for a um a youth event for fishing and I wanted to go out there so I concentrated um steadily. TV station just had an
expose on that corridor wherein they also talked about a driver 100 miles an hour on 710. Yes, there are fatalities, there are injuries, there will be more. Back to my previous comment about uh Congressman Mast office. Um I I did ask
I said where is the funding? The funding is available. There are many options for funding for the widening 710 714. He's the chair of the FE FEMA funding and uh the money is utilized through FEMA grants and it can be applied for it can
be coupled with uh DOT funding of course. Uh there's building resilient infrastructure and communities that is one grant hazard mitigation grant program also there is no cap in other words you ask for the dollars that you
need so that is enlightening also um I also had the opportunity to speak with and have met uh secretary uh Perdue of FOT but in person spoke with him on the
phone at length a couple of weeks ago and he said, "Look, it we're not trying to sit on our hands." Um, a direct purchase from a willing land owner 6 months um or eminent domain 18 months to 24 months. Uh that would be the necess
the next necessary step. We give appraised value. We don't take the property uh for less than its value. And we don't have to complete all of the purchases of the corridor at the same time. we can cobble them together so we
can complete it in segments. Um, you know, this is something that is is ticking. It's not going away. Um, I am I'm Secretary Purdue is willing, you know, to step up. Definitely, Congressman
Brian Mast, he's there. He's waiting for us to come and ask for this money and to get moving forward. This will we'll be having the same discussion a year from now. will have more tragedies, too. So, um I think it's important as county
leaders that we do reach out and of course your department too to say we we need to have this done now. We can't afford to wait any longer. We can't just can't do that. >> Any questions for Mr. Lopez?
>> No. Were you um were you able to be at I I know you had a thing out there in Indiantown, FDOT, the sheriff's office. >> I I tried to get over there a number of times, but I didn't make it. Did you all have a good turnout? >> Oh, yes. It was was a very good turnout.
Cesar, maybe you can speak a little bit more of that. >> I I can address that. Uh again, good morning, Cesar Martinez, planning environmental administrator with FDOT. Uh I was there on Saturday morning. Um yes, we did got a good turnout. Thank you to the sheriff's office and Okishobi County Sheriff's Office as well for
being with us. Uh plenty of residents. Um the community actually was there for us. Uh we understand that's the first first market uh farmers market they had in in the town in the village. >> So they heard the news about us going there. So actually that was their their main focus. Um so plenty of residents uh
expressed their concerns um with the safety of the road. Um they also expressed concerns with the within the village area as well. Uh so we're going to be taking a look at that. A couple intersections within the village boundaries. Um you know that will be south of of the corridor we're talking
about. Um also former public officials were there as well a couple property owners within the corridor. So we share ideas as well on how to partner together. Um good turnout. >> Very good. Thank you. Thanks for being out there. Appreciate it.
>> Any further questions for Mr. Lopez or Mr. Martinez. Thank you. We will now move to. >> Yeah. >> Uh any other comments from FDOT? Any comments from advisory committee
members? Any comments from board members? >> Commissioner Reid. >> Yes. I had one or actually two. Uh the first one was I wanted to make a motion for reconsideration on the safe route to
school grant application at the last meeting mainly because there was two board members that weren't present. >> Correct. >> Helen Vargas in district one and Stacy Heatherington in district two. >> Uh madam chair um that's why I um
invited um the county attorney's office. Um this is Sebastian um Abroski from the legal office. these that's who um is the NPO is assigned to. Um >> so our uh this board is ruled by
Robert's rules and um pursuant to Robert's rules of order uh motion for reconsideration must be brought by the individual on the prevailing side of any motion and number two it must be brought during the meeting at which the motion
was voted upon. Um, so we are outside of of that meeting. Obviously, that was February. Um, so according to Robert's rules, I'm sorry that that motion lies. >> Um, could I make a motion to rescend it then? >> Uh, for a motion to resend, it needs to
I think the appropriate motion today would be uh I would like to put on notice a resent that I will bring a motion because it has to be noticed. Uh, your motion to resent has to be has properly noticed. Um so you can notice
that today for next meeting agenda then okay >> that that that that can be done. >> So do you need a consensus from the board majority then Beth or >> I I believe it would just be from you commissioner just that I am notifying I'd like to put on the next uh I'd like
to notice that next meeting I will be motioning to resend um that vote. >> Okay. So what I stated so far is good for the next one then. >> Yes sir. >> Okay. Thank you so much. And then my next one was
I was going through Martin County's fiscal year 27 tenative budget and maybe this should come back as an item as well. And I was reading at the bottom of page 202
and it says the annual cost of 18 FEC crossing licing agreements is $49,731 and there's a Bright Line sealed corridor that requires quad gates at crossings and it's going to increase that license to a yearly cost of
152,000. And then the county is going to be paying for maintenance with a life cycle of 10 years. and they estimated as 150 to 300,000. >> I think that should come back as a discussion item because not only are taxpayers going to pay for the station, >> it's outside the MP.
This is not part of it because it's rail crossing. >> This is that's a county commission discussion, not of MO. >> Well, at least it's on the record then. I'm not sure if anyone at the county noticed it, but we're not only paying for a station, we're going to pay to maintain this. And then your license
agreement for the crossings are going to go from 50,000 a year to 150,000 a year. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Yeah, I I think I was just following up with Commissioner Reid. So, my understanding is that at the next
meeting, you're going to bring forth Please state again. uh at the there'll be noticed next meeting will be noticed and on the minutes it'll say that there uh will be a motion uh to resend at that meeting um and then the motion will be
brought at the the next uh subsequent meeting. >> Yes, because my understanding there's some objection to that particular work that was being done in that neighborhood. I was not here at that meeting. though definitely need to have that discussion >> that that will be noted in uh in the
minutes and will be on next meeting's uh agenda. >> Commissioner Heatherington. >> Yes. >> I just wanted to um thank the DOT Secretary Braun and Mr. Lopez. We had been hearing from a number of residents
along the Caner Highway corridor regarding um safety concerns, lighting concerns, speed, and we had a a great meeting with DOT, their team and law enforcement and put together um the DOT will be doing a roadway safety audit for
that corridor. And uh that will include DOT, law enforcement, um some input from the MO, county staff, and with our objective is to identify potential road safety issues, uh have recommendations
for improvement for the entire corridor and a formal RSA report for the findings will be made. There will be public meetings. I believe those are on our county website, the uh public meeting. And then at the end there will be an imple implementation plan put forth by
DOT to address some of the safety concerns on Caner Highway. So thank you very much to your team at DOT for addressing the residents concerned along that Caner Highway. >> That's all. >> Any further comments? Would anyone from
the public like to address us? >> Seeing none, Miss Beltran, any any notes? >> Um not at this meeting? No. And our next MO policy board meeting will be May 11th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. We are adjourned.
>> Thank you.