FDOT: Central Polk Parkway dead for now

[thelakelander]

Good move by FDOT. No reason to keep spending billions on highways that aren't needed....

State transportation officials are shutting down any further work toward construction of the Central Polk Parkway, the Polk Transportation Planning Organization was told today.

“We're more than $1 billion short even with toll revenue; there are no other funds to advance the project,” said Billy Hattaway, Florida Department of Transportation District One secretary.

Hattaway said after the meeting the funds already in the current five-year plan for purchasing right of way and for preliminary engineering will be shifted to other projects.

Hattaway's announcement took local officials by surprise.

“That was more definitive than I had hoped,'' said County Commissioner Todd Dantzler, whose district includes a substantial portion of the road's proposed route.

“I don't think anyone in this room will be around when this is built,'' said County Commissioner George Lindsey. “It will be decades before life is breathed into this project.''

Dantzler said after the meeting he wasn't convinced the project was dead because there's still some local interest in pushing it.

He agreed finding the money will be key.

Hattaway said the main reason the project was determined to be financially unfeasible is because the growth in the area was not great enough, adding that could change in the future.

Full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20151210/NEWS/151219988?tc=cr

[spuwho]

Has anyone checked how much land Polk County Commissioner Tad Danzler owns on the ROW?

When the studies show it has no support for traffic and even a tollway isnt feasible and he still wants to push it?

They should be doing a study on him.

[Adam White]

Good move by FDOT. No reason to keep spending billions on highways that aren't needed....


Hattaway said the main reason the project was determined to be financially unfeasible is because the growth in the area was not great enough, adding that could change in the future.

Full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20151210/NEWS/151219988?tc=cr
[/quote]

Seems to me that if growth in the area isn't great enough to warrant construction of a highway at this time but is expected to possibly be great enough sometime in the future, it would be wise to look at other alternatives. I'm not saying rail, but if you have enough time to do something, why not explore other options? Why not try to be smart about it rather than just wait until you have no option but to build a highway?

[tufsu1]

Has anyone checked how much land Polk County Commissioner Tad Danzler owns on the ROW?

When the studies show it has no support for traffic and even a tollway isnt feasible and he still wants to push it?

They should be doing a study on him.

trust me...it isn't local Polk County politicians driving this.  Look no further than the land holdings of one J.D. Alexander. 

The roadway, as originally envisioned 20 years ago, was to connect the Polk Parkway with SR 60 providing a non-stop route over to the turnpike.  That changed when land interests in the south-central part of the state pushed for the Heartland Parkway. 

And yes, I'm very happy to see it put on a shelf.  Now if FDOT would just do that with the other future corridor projects!

[HeartofFlorida]

Apologies for digging up an old topic, but, construction on the first leg recently broke ground. 

[marcuscnelson]

Guess "for now" wasn't actually all that long.

8 years isn't too bad, but this is almost certainly still a silly project.

[HeartofFlorida]

Guess "for now" wasn't actually all that long.

8 years isn't too bad, but this is almost certainly still a silly project.

10 years ago, yes.  In 2023 in a county quickly approaching a million residents with surface roads clogged especially US27, the loop can't be completed fast enough to alleviate traffic woes in the ridge.

[marcuscnelson]

Building the loop is not going to solve that problem. You can keep making the roads bigger but cars take up enough space that they'll fill up. You've got to give people alternatives.

I-295 didn't alleviate traffic woes on I-95, and now FDOT is spending billions to expand both of them and build an additional loop.

[thelakelander]

Apologies for digging up an old topic, but, construction on the first leg recently broke ground. 

I noticed this when I was visiting my parents earlier this month. Where will the exits be between SR 540/Winter Lake Road and US 17? Ultimately, I see it being a vehicle to spur sprawl along the east side of Lake Hancock and west of Spirit Lake Road, moreso than anything else.

[HeartofFlorida]

Apologies for digging up an old topic, but, construction on the first leg recently broke ground. 

I noticed this when I was visiting my parents earlier this month. Where will the exits be between SR 540/Winter Lake Road and US 17? Ultimately, I see it being a vehicle to spur sprawl along the east side of Lake Hancock and west of Spirit Lake Road, moreso than anything else.

The only exits (for now) are planned at US 17, then at SR 60 with the route somewhere between Bartow Municipal Airport and Gordon Heights.  Yes, the sprawl you mentioned east of Lake Hancock and west of Spirit Lake Rd falls under the Old Florida Plantation DRI and will be developed into about 3000 homes.  Albeit scaled down, Bartow has been sitting on this for a couple of decades and I know city officials are licking their chops to develop the eastern shores of Lake Hancock all the way to Saddle Creek to the southwest.

[thelakelander]

I noticed they're adding a full interchange at SR 540 as well. It seems waaayyyyyyy overbuilt!






FDOT now owns all the land at the end of Sheffield Road. That's a spot I'd keep my eye on also.

Also, the second phase between US 17 and SR 60 has a very low projected 2045 AADT.

[thelakelander]

Apologies for digging up an old topic, but, construction on the first leg recently broke ground. 

I noticed this when I was visiting my parents earlier this month. Where will the exits be between SR 540/Winter Lake Road and US 17? Ultimately, I see it being a vehicle to spur sprawl along the east side of Lake Hancock and west of Spirit Lake Road, moreso than anything else.

The only exits (for now) are planned at US 17, then at SR 60 with the route somewhere between Bartow Municipal Airport and Gordon Heights.  Yes, the sprawl you mentioned east of Lake Hancock and west of Spirit Lake Rd falls under the Old Florida Plantation DRI and will be developed into about 3000 homes.  Albeit scaled down, Bartow has been sitting on this for a couple of decades and I know city officials are licking their chops to develop the eastern shores of Lake Hancock all the way to Saddle Creek to the southwest.

I can also see this helping spur development along SR 60 between Bartow and Lake Wales. Years ago, there was talk of developing the old Clear Springs phosphate land south of SR 60. This project seems to be headed straight for it, as opposed to the previous plan of the parkway looping around Winter Haven and Haines City back to I-4.

[jaxlongtimer]

Don't know the area but looking at the maps and aerials, is there any part of Florida that is safe from urban sprawl/development.  As a native, so sad to see what has happened to this State over the decades.

And, always amazed that FDOT still builds interchanges without the equivalent of a full cloverleaf.  If you look at the biggest backups, they always seem to be at lighted interchanges.  I guess it's building on the cheap....

[Charles Hunter]

Only 8,900 AADT (2-way) on a 4-lane limited access tollway, in 2045? Heck, the minor collector in front of my house (2 lanes + center turn lane) has (slightly) more traffic than that!

[thelakelander]

Definitely the definition of a pork project.