House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #2301 Realign US 98 in Gulf and Bay Counties
Requester:	Representative Bev Kilmer		Organization:		Florida House of Representatives, District 7
Project Title:	Realign US 98 in Gulf and Bay Counties		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 11:59:49 AM
District Member:	Bev Kilmer		Service Area:		Regional
Counties Affected:	Bay, Gulf
Recipient:	Florida Department of Transportation, District 3		Contact:		Edward Prescott, Secretary
	1074 Hwy 90		Contact Phone:		(506) 380-2501 200
	Chipley 32428
Project Description:
Realign U.S. 98 in Gulf and Bay Counties. The purpose of this transportation improvement is to provide for a new US98 corridor that is more conducive to regional travel between Panama City and Port St. Joe. The existing corridor alignment is an impediment to growth and development in the area with its close proximity to the coastline and constraints resulting from existing land use abutting the roadway through Mexico Beach, Beacon Hill and St. Joe Beach. With high unemployment presently being experienced in Gulf County, this new corridor could help promote the creation of new construction jobs and new employment opportunities through resort development and tourism.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
(This project will be partly in the Governor's designated Area of Critical Economic Concern-Gulf County) The US 98 corridor is the "lifeline" of Gulf, Franklin and Bay Counties, providing access to the urbanized areas of Panama City to the west, and Tallahassee to the east. The US 98 corridor through Gulf and Bay Counties provides primary intermodal access to the Port St. Joe seaport and the Port of Panama City. Intermodal refers to a connection, or link, between two forms of transportation. In this case, US 98 provides a vital surface trasportation link-moving people and goods-between the two deep water ports. US 98 also provides access to Gulf County's oly rail line (the Apalachicola Northern) and serves as the primary route for trucks delivering goods and services to Gulf County. This corridor provides access to employment opportunities at Tyndall Air Force Base for residents of Gulf County and southeastern Bay County. US 98 is a hurricane evacuation route for residents of Gulf County. Traffic and level-of-service monitoring recently completed by the Apalachee Regional Planning Council shows the potential for concurrency restrictions on growth along the US 98 corridor in Gulf County, an area looking for new employment opportunities for its residents. The proposed improvement would provide an alternate corridor to existing US 98, which is at capacity through Mexico Beach, Beacon Hill, and St. Joe Beach. An alternate route would allow US 98 to be widened to four-lane facility. Widening the existing US 98 would be difficult within the constrained right-of-way. In addition, the proposed improvements to US 98 are anticipated to result in additional jobs for the region, an increase in tax revenue for the region, and improvements in regional transportation infrastructure, as well as other benefits.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Enhanced regional transportation resulting in improved linkages between Port St. Joe and other regional transportation facilities, access between small coastal towns and larger cities along the North Florida coast, connections to recreational facilities along the Florida Gulf Coast, thereby enhancing economic development in the region and assisting this designated "Area of Critical Economic Concern" to recover.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$20,249,000
Total cost of the project:		$31,519,000

Request has been made to fund:			Construction
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?					Yes
				In-Kind Amount:	$11,270,000
Was this project previously funded by the State?					No
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?					No
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?					No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?					No
Is there a documented need for this project?					Yes
	Documentation:	Previous FDOT studies to relocate US 98 further inland from the coast
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?					Yes
	Hearing Body:	Gulf County Board of County Commissioners
	Meeting Date:	10/14/1999