All Information came from the City of Lakeland Staff
- Who paid for everything originally?
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has been a tremendous partner in the planning of the Florida Avenue corridor. Between 2003 and 2014, the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency performed multiple high‐level planning and outreach activities for Florida Avenue between Ariana Street and Downtown. Since 2016, FDOT has funded a first‐of‐its‐kind transportation, design studio and economic analysis of the corridor; funded the design and construction of the “road‐diet test” that began in 2020, including the collection of traffic data at over 90 locations within and adjacent to the project area; and in 2020 began funding operating costs for the Citrus Connection’s Peach Line (Dixieland Shuttle) transit service. The Lakeland CRA commissioned an analysis of various road corridor operations by Ayres and 2 Associates, including renderings, which were presented to the City Commission in advance of its 2022 decision to recommend a three‐lane cross‐section with 11‐12 foot wide sidewalks. The City will be funding and managing the design phase of the permanent roadway configuration with future discussions determining the amount/share of construction costs. In terms of short‐term improvements in the neighborhoods adjacent to Florida Avenue, the City received a $20,000 grant from AARP to improve the pedestrian route along Hillcrest Street between Florida Avenue and Drane Park in Dixieland as recommended in the Ayres study (completed in February 2024) and has continued to complete brick restoration projects on two City streets, Belvedere Street and Lake Hunter Drive. The improvements to nearby City streets were another major component of the City Commission’s resolution from 2022.
- Does the City have any recourse?
To date, FDOT has lived up to its commitments regarding the Florida Avenue corridor and continues to provide data that is critical to the upcoming design phase to be managed by the City. In advance of and during the design phase, the City and FDOT will have a better understanding of costs, schedule, and the partnering that will be needed to successfully complete the ultimate roadway improvement.
Interesting comments:
As part of the overall test for the Florida Avenue road-diet/lane repurposing proposal, FDOT committed to restoring the roadway if the test was unsuccessful in addition to the pre-/post data collection and analysis, construction of the interim roadway modifications and the Dixieland Circulator transit service known as the Peach Line. An agreement was never executed to address the restoration and with approval of Resolution 5793 (attached), the focused shifted to implementing the area transportation program including not only Florida Avenue but also other nearby streets. From Chuck Barmby, City of Lakeland Planning & Transportation Manager Community & Economic Development