Commentary posted 9/9/07; Updated 9/13/07

The future of I-595 will be cast in the next few days and weeks. We have reached a critical turning point in transportation design and policy as it pertains to the strategic east-west highway that serves Broward County and South Florida. 
 
All summer long citizens and their elected officials have voiced overwhelming opposition to building elevated, reversible toll lanes over grade-level I-595. The controversial "595 Express" project is so fraught with problems that another solution was desperately needed. Would the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) respond?
 
Citizen opposition is harshly critical of FDOT's current plan to put a 50-foot or more bridge, miles in length, over the Town of Davie and to the south of the City of Plantation. A long list of safety, environmental, economic, and design faults support the growing movement against the double-decking of 595. Both the Town of Davie and the City of Plantation passed resolutions this summer opposing FDOT's $1.2 billion design. As meetings were held between citizens and public officials on the municipal, county and state levels to work against the Department of Transpiration's plans, the public message from District Four was "all speed ahead" with its controversial skyway plan. It seemed as if FDOT was not listening, and would do what it wanted.
 
As the summer months progressed, a dialogue created between concerned citizens and FDOT produced no apparent result. Meanwhile, the transportation agency met with national and international corporations and private equity concerns to gauge interest in funding, building, operating and maintaining variable toll lanes high above ground level for up to 35 to 50 years or longer. 
 
Now, FDOT has developed a new plan, one that would eliminate the elevated superhighway and allow express lanes to be constructed at the current level of the freeway.
 
On Wednesday, September 5, that alternative plan was unveiled to the Davie Town Council. Announced by District Four Secretary James Wolfe, this viable plan was proposed to change FDOT's design to ground level and save hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs. This new design would make the expanded highway safer and more environmentally responsible as well.
 
Mr. Wolfe made it clear that the original plan for an elevated highway will remain in effect until and unless the Federal Highway Administration approves the alterations...a circumstance that will occur only if FDOT should decide to petition them for such change. Their decision to do so will depend entirely upon just how receptive the affected communities would be to the prospect of mass transit along the corridor, most likely along the south side of the highway.
 
The Secretary concluded by saying that a final decision to adopt this new design option would be made this month and must be determined prior to October 1, 2007. The public-private partnership component of the roadway improvement is likely to remain if the "at grade" option is selected.
 
Summing up the reasons for opposing the existing plan: the "elevated option" is high and can be seen from a wide area, offers a more difficult emergency response capability, is expensive to build, is ecologically damaging, and lacks access points in Davie or Plantation. Moreover, it offers nothing to serve the future needs of the South Florida Education Complex which draws more weekday traffic than does Downtown Fort Lauderdale.
 
On the other hand, the alternative plan offers "a feasible, at-grade candidate," according to the District Secretary. It would improve water flow through the North New River Canal by employing bulkheads which will allow widening 595 slightly to the north. It is substantially cheaper, by $200 million. It would have "better emergency response characteristics," and it would satisfy the June, 2007 Davie resolution which opposes mass transit in the median of 595.

Citing the opposition of both the Davie and Plantation commissions as well as that of 595Alert.org, Secretary Wolfe acknowledged that public support is far better with an at-grade solution. He cautioned, however, that the least expensive mass transit corridor is at grade level, in the median. According to Mr. Wolfe, "This is only feasible with the elevated express lanes option. All other dedicated mass transit corridor options are elevated, with an additional transit cost of about $200 million." 

While acknowledging there is savings in costs related to bringing the highway to grade from the current elevated design, the Secretary told the Town Council that an additional $200 million would have to be spent to place mass transit along the SR 84 corridor. He reasoned that any savings would be washed out by the additional costs of elevating the mass transit on SR 84. We respectfully believe this logic is flawed and that in terms of today's dollars, future construction of a light rail component would cost far less. The key to understanding the savings is this...The $200 million saved by bringing the express lanes to grade level, in the next few years, can be used to build light rail mass transit, but in today's dollar value, the true additional cost of such future transit between SR 84 and I-595 will be far less than $200 million in terms of today's dollar value. For example, $200 million spent 10 years from now, with a discount rate of 5 percent, would be about $120 million, in today's dollars. Thus, the State's contention that the savings of eliminating the bridge would "wash out" due to the increased cost of elevated mass transit, is not accurate unless all improvements are commenced and completed at the same time. FDOT has already conceded mass transit is many, many years off.

Further addressing the mass transit issue, he explained that, because the greater demand for the service lies on the south side of the highway, and the Education Complex also lies to the south, it is likely that future mass transit will ultimately take the form of an elevated light-rail system approximately 30 feet in the air on the south side. Both the needs of the majority of residents, and the benefits to the businesses along the south side of the corridor make the location a logical one.
 
However, to be realistic, he later acknowledged, the demand for mass transit is many years away. And, it will never be considered until bus service on the express lanes have attracted sufficient ridership to make it feasible to launch such a system.
 
We applaud FDOT's willingness to listen to the public and governmental officials. It may well be unprecedented for a project of this magnitude. And, it took real leadership by James Wolfe to present this plan. We thank him for this different vision. In the meantime, he is looking for "final feedback," as construction to redesign 595 could begin as early as 2009.
 
The negative reaction Mr. Wolfe received from Davie’s Town Council at Wednesday's meeting was unfortunate. With this new alternative, the Town gets exactly what it asked for in its June 6 resolution.

In return for FDOT’s opening its mind and responding sensitively to Davie’s and the rest of the communities’ concerns, he asked only for an open mind­-a willingness to sit down and work with the department to reach a mutually favorable outcome. Instead, at least one member of the Town Council said, “We don’t want anything!”...hardly a responsible reaction to an effort to alleviate traffic congestion that already plagues us around the rush hours.
 
"NO" to everything is an unrealistic solution. Whether the population of Broward County grows as projected or at a lesser rate, we must accept that additional lanes will be constructed, hopefully at grade level, to try to reduce or eliminate the severe congestion. By adopting the choice of an "at grade solution," we can save lives by improving emergency response time. We can help improve the environment. We may never have to actually see light rail, as it is years off, and there is no present funding source.
 
FDOT is not compelled to listen to Davie. But it wants to. When asked, Secretary Wolfe made it clear that he is satisfied the Town has no legal option to prevent FDOT from following through on whatever decision it may make. For that reason, as we see it, Davie’s choice is to either take part in the outcome or be irrelevant. It was the rational and open-minded approach that the opposition took toward this project that induced FDOT to consider changing its mind about the crucial issue of the elevated highway. And that same approach is required to assure the final, favorable outcome.
 
It's time for all to get on board this compromise before it is too late. The Town should sponsor a resolution in favor of dropping the elevated highway and encouraging FDOT's alternate plan. It should do so with all deliberate speed. If it does not, we may wake up by October 1 with a headline that the elevated portion of the construction project is going forward. Then we all lose. FDOT will build a design that it publicly admits is flawed and not as safe as the new option...Davie will lose a voice it can still have in the complex process of highway design and enhancement, and the citizens of Central Broward will have been ignored, again, this time by their own representatives.
 
595Alert.org and Broward Citizens for a Better 595, Inc. wholeheartedly endorse the Secretary's new proposal and urge its immediate adoption. We also commend his willingness to respond so sensitively to the communities affected.

UPDATE: The Board of County Commissioners of Broward County passed a resolution on September 11, 2007 opposing the proposed elevated, reversible lanes in the I-595 corridor. Of significance, however, is what the Board endorsed. It said, "The Broward County Board of County Commissioners supports reversible lanes at grade level, and within the center of the I-595 corridor."

 Click picture to play video of 9.5.07 Davie Town Council meeting. More information on 595Alert.org News page.

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