MEETING SUMMARY. East Central Florida Corridor Evaluation Study MEETING PURPOSE Project Advisory Group Meeting #3 MEETING DATE

Transcription

1 PROJECT East Central Florida Corridor Evaluation Study MEETING PURPOSE Project Advisory Group Meeting #3 MEETING DATE December 6, :30 3:30 pm MEETING LOCATION: FDOT District Five Lake Poinset Conference Room 133 S. Semoran Blvd, Orlando, FL ATTENDEES Adam Lovejoy, FDOT District Five Alissa Torres, Orange County Brian ten Siethoff, Cambridge Systematics (by phone) Carol Scott, Florida s Turnpike Enterprise Courtney Reynolds, TranSystems Dennis Smith, FDOT Central Office Erin Sterk, Brevard County Frank O Dea, FDOT District Five Fred Milch, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council Gary Huttmann, MetroPlan Orlando Greg Smith, PB Harry Barley, MetroPlan Orlando Jeff Bowen, Hanson Jo Santiago, FDOT District Five John Rice, RS&H John Zielinski, FDOT District Five Laura Carter, Space Coast TPO Lori Sellers, Hanson Mansoor Khuwaja, Hanson Mark Hardgrove, Planning Innovations Shane Friedman, Osceola County Shelley Lauten, trisect Taylor Laurent, HDR Virginia Whittington, MetroPlan Orlando 1. INTRODUCTIONS John Zielinski opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees 1 The group went around the room and introduced themselves Shelley Lauten noted that she will be moving to a new role. John provided congratulations to Shelley on her recent selection as Chief Executive Officer of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness. Shelley reminded attendees that the foundations of the ECFCES were laid 20 years ago during How Shall We Grow? and remains a model of how regional collaboration is done Shelley asked How do we work collaboratively moving forward and what do we need to get there? John highlighted the importance of the ECFCES corridors for evacuation from the coast, especially given recent evacuation efforts related to Hurricane Matthew Shelley provided an overview of the agenda 2. RECAP OF PROJECT ADVISORY GROUP MEETING #2 Jeff Bowen noted that the meeting was attended by 28 PAG members and partners During the meeting, an in-depth review of each of the five (5) Existing Corridors was provided. The review included an overview of the corridors 1 Presentation can be found at: 1

2 Purpose and Need (now and in future) Hot Spots Other areas of concern Discussion was held on the Evaluation Framework and Criteria which is under development Individual corridor review included a dialogue on corridor needs and concerns 3. ACTIVITIES SINCE LAST MEETING Lori Sellers presented an overview and highlights of stakeholder and project partners coordination meetings held since PAG meeting #2 (September 20, 2016) The Tavistock Group purchased a portion of land in the North Ranch, aka Sunbridge, which is located around Future Corridor H Deseret and Tavistock have found that there may not be a need for a limited access facility through that area with their intended development plans Possible shifting / elimination of a N / S Limited Access Future Corridor H Differing build-out dates for major developments Lake Nona is projected to be completed by 2031 Sunbridge projected build out is 2047 Orange County portion of Sunbridge property located outside North Ranch sector plan Lori provided highlights of the Regional Transit Study Project Advisory Group Kick-off meeting, held October 14, 2016 She noted that Virginia Whittington would be providing more detail later in the agenda Lori also presented an overview of the meeting with the Spaceport, which included representatives of Space Florida, NASA, and Kennedy Space Center Key issues to the spaceport include: Impacts of space tourism and privatization: transportation, work force, economic development Expansion plans: Building new launch pads and assembly and development facilities Corridors need to be analyzed for specific design, clearance, and hazardous material transport Vision 2025 has just been completed which anticipates a space launch manifest currently around 30 launches per year, increasing to around 200 launches per year by 2030 Master Plan to be completed in The Master Plan includes expansion plans to include new launch facilities to accommodate space travel Impacts from space tourism and privatization, transportation, work force and economic development should be considered Lori noted the coordination meeting held with the Canaveral Port Authority on the same day as the Spaceport, November 29, 2016 Highlights of the meeting included an update to the Port Canaveral Master Plan Discussion during the meeting centered around SR 528 as a critical corridor for the Port and that the bridge on SR 401 continues to be an issue, especially as local boat traffic continues to increase One-third of the cruise traffic is related to Disney cruises 2

3 Project team to coordinate and exchange ideas between Merritt Island stakeholders given the multiple planning activities occurring in the Merritt Island area Erin Sterk stated she d like to be included in the Merritt Island stakeholders group and she can provide information from active local groups such as the Merritt Island Redevelopment Association. 4. EVALUATION FRAMEWORK AND MISSION STATEMENT John and Jeff provide an overview of the study status. Jeff noted the ECFCES study framework and goals are currently in draft form, and will be a work in progress as the study progresses The existing corridors purpose and need statements, or the corridor today and the vision for the future, is also in draft form Data collection for existing conditions is also ongoing. The Project Team has collected traffic, level of service, environmental, typical section, and right-of-way data for the existing corridors and within the study area Dennis Smith provided an overview and discussion of the evaluation framework and mission statement. Of the Mission statement: Address the gaps in the system of corridors Connect the urban centers Improve access and connection between the transportation hubs focusing on trade and tourism Meeting public safety objectives (emergency management, bike/ped) Central Office interested in terms of future corridors process: What s replicable? How to make systemwide changes through analysis and projects Dennis noted questions to consider through the ECFCES: Are corridors being cared for through other programming? If so, these corridors may not need immediate attention in the ECFCES. What physical projects need to be undertaken in the future to close gaps. He stressed this is a collaborative process relying on input from PAG 5. EXISTING CORRIDORS PURPOSE AND NEED STATEMENTS Jeff discussed some of the research questions being addressed through the ECFCES. The information the Project Team collected from the PAG, the Task Force, and gathered through publicly-available resources has been put together into project descriptions which are being tailored for the purpose and need for future project development Jeff asked the PAG to take a look and provide comments. He noted that the purpose and need for each corridor will change over the course of the study as new information is collected and incorporated SR 50 / SR 405 The SR 50 / SR 405 corridor today has high and wide loads to consider as goods are transported in and out of the hubs port and spaceport Stakeholders have goals internal to their boundaries, but also have a need for a transportation system supporting external connections to their facilities such as SR 405 Erin Sterk noted Brevard County is interested in future design of the SR 405 bridge, which should incorporate bike/ped design 3

4 Harry Barley directed the group back to the Task Force final report; report states four (4) new future corridors as opportunity for utilities. Harry stated that utilities should also be incorporated into existing corridors. Utility transmission has been incorporated into ECFCES scope Jeff stressed that future improvements need to preserve an envelope for fuel transmission John Rice stated that Orlando International Airport (OIA) has plans to double in size; fuel demand will increase It was noted that pipelines could convey water as well as fuel Erin noted that potable water transmission along Max Brewer Bridge has just been added which is a very costly retrofit process It was asked if fuel / water transmission was incorporated into Deseret Ranch Sector Plan? The Project Team will review SR 520 SR 520 serves commuters, tourists, students, commercial and space program today Future enhancements needed to serve developments in local area such as Viera, Deseret Ranch, Innovation Way, Lake Nona, etc. Walmart / future distribution centers Increased cruise operations Privatized aerospace industry Evacuation purposes SR 528 During the discussion of the SR 528 corridor, it was brought up that preservation of right-of-way for existing and future utilities expansion should be considered This corridor also functions as a primary coastal evacuation route For the evaluation phase, it is important to evaluate the projected growth at the coast to determine what the demand will be in this context US 192 US 192 serves as a high-tech corridor for workforce commuting between Palm Bay and Medical City 43% of traffic on US 192 is tourist traffic Ties in SR 417 major connector going around Orlando Connects to I-4 Premium transit to support workforce should be considered in future scenarios A new interchange at SR 528 to serve Tavistock properties is under development could absorb future demand SR 417 / NARCOOSEE ROAD Erin stressed Narcoosee and SR 417 are very different corridors and should be considered individually. For example, is transit being considered for both corridors? Is CFX examining full-connectivity or just SR 417? Alissa Torres noted that Orange County has similar concerns that the corridors are very different Alissa also noted that there are many schools existing and planned, as well as other vulnerable 4

5 communities that use the corridor Frank O Dea noted that Narcoosee Road may need to be considered similarly to east SR 50 scenario where six (6) lanes may just not be enough even though the facility serves the local community; may be a good time to start discussing expanding this facility for the future 6. CENTRAL FLORIDA TOURISM STUDY Taylor Laurent provided an update on the Central Florida Tourism Study 2 Very high percentage of tourists on the five (5) existing corridors Orlando #1 in the US for staycations and destination weddings Orlando falls to 2 nd in spending; may be due to lower costs Business vs leisure travelers business travelers spend more in transportation costs Top 4 theme parks in attendance are Disney parks Universal Studios developing 470 acres on I-drive Unclaimed vacation days could be source of economic stimulus Review of global attractions currently underway Developing case studies city comparisons for innovative partnerships, transit ridership, mobility options 52 visitors / 1 Central Florida resident AirSage data collects cell signal data by location, delay (overnight = origination trip) Erin asked if non-resident data will be analyzed during PD&E Jeff noted the data collected through the course of the study will be part of the modeling and forecasting conducted under this project Discussion was held regarding the data used in the study, AirSage. AirSage data is comprised of cellphone data from participating carriers; the non-resident/tourist data noted could actually be higher with participation from other carriers Alissa asked if gas taxes are included in revenue figures. Taylor will check and provide a response 7. CENTRAL FLORIDA EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY (CFX) UPDATE Mansoor Khuwaja provided an update on behalf of the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) 3 Mansoor noted that CFX is in process of finalizing scope for concept study to evaluate N/S corridor Corridor H is located west of the Econ River. CFX has been informed that a limited access facility may not be desired in this location as a joint (CFX, Orange County, SLR) project currently under construction, new interchange at SR 528 and Innovation Way, may be sufficient to serve the development plans for the area Given lack of support for Corridor H, a concept study more in line with Corridor I, is moving forward. This project will advertise in January 2017 as soon as final selection is completed for Osceola County Expressway Authority (OCX) Master Plan Concept, Feasibility, and Mobility Studies CFX has no immediate plans for concept studies on corridors D and F 2 Presentation can be found at: 3 Presentation can be found at: 5

6 CFX committed to initiate and complete concept and mobility studies for all OCX Master Plan Corridors within 18 months Consultant oral presentations and final ranking, December 20, Four (4) firms will be selected and assigned 1 of the 4 projects. Anticipate NTP in April/May 2017 All Aboard Florida (AAF) / Brightline is in the permitting phase and is working through a fairly significant Request for Additional Information (RAI) with South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is moving forward with the SR 408 PD&E study Corridor meetings include PAG and Environmental Advisory Group (EAG) meetings scheduled for January 2017 and public meetings in February CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL TRANSIT STUDY Virginia Whittington provided an overview and update of the Central Florida Regional Transit Study which encompasses FDOT District Five s nine (9) counties as well as Polk County 4 Jeff noted that the RTS Project Advisory Group meetings will be coordinated closely with the Central Florida MPO Alliance Board meetings. The next board meeting is January 13, 2017 Harry Barley offered some perspectives of which to be mindful as the RTS is developed Be mindful of the demographics and economics in the 10-county study region MAP-21 requires a tourism plan Much of the service sector is made up of people classified as below the poverty level with no money left over after basics are covered Incorporate the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) report, a United Way product for information on working individuals who are barely getting by; those who may benefit most from transit as well as benefit a major employment sector in Central Florida AAA estimates that it costs around $8000 per year to operate a vehicle. For those barely getting by, that is a significant drain on financial resources Mark Hardgrove noted that premium transit is included in previous plans for Narcoosee Road Mark also noted that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is not supportive of funding transit on tourism-heavy corridors Fred Milch inquired if environmental issues were included in the ECFCES scope John noted that the Task Force considered environmental factors at the concept-level that advanced to this evaluation phase of the study John also noted that the study will continue to include evaluation of the 4C s (Conservation, Countryside, Centers, Corridors) Jeff noted that regional agricultural ponds are an example of environmental enhancements that will be incorporated in the development of the ECFCES bundle of projects 4 Presentation can be found at: 6