Steve Cordle
ECB Publishing, Inc.
In the Friday, Oct. 23 edition of the Jefferson County Journal, a story appeared about the new bulb-out sidewalks that were installed over the summer. The new design resulted in narrower roads at intersections, creating safety concerns with vehicles making turns, particularly large vehicles. At that writing, both the City of Monticello and the Monticello-Jefferson Chamber of Commerce had received complaints from citizens. They started consulting with the contractor AECOM, the Los Angeles-based multinational infrastructure firm that was contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to do the work.
According to Monticello City Manager Raymond Clark, no new calls have come into the city about the bulb-out sidewalks and no decision has been made about what to do to deal with previous complaints. Clark said that the situation is still being looked into and he does not know when any decision will be made.
Katrina Richardson, Executive Director of the Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce said that the chamber continues to receive complaints about the sidewalks. The engineer was in the COC office on Nov. 10 and informed the chamber that it will be about six to eight months before the project is finished and the last thing to be done is resurfacing US Highway 90 from the west of Monticello to east of the city where resurfacing has been done.
Not only has the chamber received complaints, a staff reporter with the Monticello News has also received feedback from local residents who are unhappy with the new bulb-out design of the sidewalks. As no final decision has been made regarding a resolution to the problem, this would be a good time for residents to write, email or call the city to express their concerns at (850) 342-0293 or email the city manager who is charged with responding to citizens concerns and overseeing all city departments at rclarck@mymonticello.net.