Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
For anyone interested in attending meetings of the advisory board discussing the proposed toll road – more formally called Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) – the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has scheduled two more meetings this month.
The two meetings, unfortunately, will require travel time for local residents, although the distances are not as far as the earlier meetings.
For the task force reviewing the Suncoast Connector, the toll road that will potentially impact Jefferson County, the meeting is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, at the IFAS Auditorium, 203 Forest Park Drive, in Perry, Taylor County – 40 miles in distance, or about a 40-minute drive away.
The open house for the Suncoast Connector Task Force, meanwhile, is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Day Community Center, 4673 County Road 53 in Mayo, Lafayette County – 67 miles distance, or just a little over an hour's drive away.
Or, for those with access to computers and the internet, information on the M-CORES – including materials to past meetings and general information about the roads – is available by visiting floridamcores.com/calendar-of-events.
Additionally, the FDOT has scheduled extra meetings for each of the task forces in February and April to allow each more time to study the various aspects of its respective M-CORES project “and achieve the items the task forces are charged with under state law.”
“Collectively, the M-CORES proposals are slated to be Florida’s most significant infrastructure projects in decades,” according to the FDOT's press release. “It is therefore critical that the task forces take every consideration, so that the planning, project development, and design processes are followed flawlessly.”
The required assessments that the FDOT considers paramount in the assessment of each corridor include discussions of the pros and cons of each of the following considerations with respect to the affected communities: hurricane evacuation routes; broadband, water, and sewer connectivity; power distribution; autonomous, connected, shared, and electric vehicle technology; shared-use bike and pedestrian trails, freight and passenger rail, and public transit; congestion mitigation; and trade and movement of freight opportunities.
In advance of the December meetings, the FDOT reports it has begun gathering data from sister agencies and subject matter experts related to each of the targeted topics of assessment. The data, the FDOT says, will be disseminated to each task force for use in the discussions.
“By October 2020, each M-CORES Task Force must evaluate the unique needs of each respective proposed project area, any economic and environmental impacts, hurricane evacuation impacts, land use impacts, and design features to protect or mitigate environmental impacts,” the FDOT press release states.
To successfully complete their evaluation, per the FDOT, each task force must, among other things, coordinate public and stakeholder involvement; collect relevant data; provide design recommendations; submit avoidance minimization mitigation and enhancement recommendations; ensure that each step of the process is afforded adequate time for consideration; and inform the public of specific meeting topics.
For more information on the M-CORES, public meeting dates and locations, or to submit comments related to the proposed projects, visit FloridaMCORES.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.