Pictorial Guide to Four Key Documents

No. 1. Genesis of the proposed four-lane extension of SW 24th Avenue
UF's first proposed to donate land for a four-lane extension of SW 24th Avenue through campus at a special meeting of the Alachua County Commission on 31 Jan 2003. This is a portion of the map used to explain the need for the road:



To learn more about the context of UF's decision to donate land for a four-lane extension of SW 24th Avenue go to the first key document.

This document, prepared for UF's Transportation and Parking Committee, is a web page that lists and documents eleven "information items." These items have been well publicized and none has been questioned or denied. These two conclusions clearly follow from the information items:

The University is promoting a change in the 20th Avenue Charrette and the MTPO's long range transportation plan that is not based on sound evidence and is counter to the recommendations of professional transportation planners.
[See information items 2, 3, 7, and 8.]

This change was initiated by Butler Enterprises in connection with a proposed commercial development that will more than double the retail space in the Butler Plaza area.
[See information items 5, 6, and 11.]

 No. 2. Best-practice procedures ignored in making important decisions

Below are two score cards that show to what extent best-practice procedures were followed in deciding to make SW 24th Avenue a four-lane road and in deciding that UF should donate campus land for its right-of-way between SW 34th Street and Archer Road.


Score Card No. 1: Four-lane Road

 Recent studies of the area's traffic problems
    2   

 Studies recommending a four-lane SW 24th Avenue  
    0  



Score Card No. 2: Donation of Campus Land

 Committees that should have been asked for input     
    5   

 Committees that were asked for input  
    0  

You will find detailed information and documentation to verify the above score cards in the second key document.

No. 3. Environmental and other costs of the proposed extension
49 specimen trees
fragmented habitat
roadkill
karst basin
more commercial
more intersections

These and other costs are described in the third key document.

No. 4. A walkable, bikeable student village with a network of pedestrian-friendly two-lane roads

The Administration maintains that a four-lane SW 24th Avenue furthers the "student village concept" as proposed by the MTPO's SW 20th Avenue Charrette. Their claim does not bear scutiny because the Charrette proposed a pedestrian-friendly, bicycle- friendly student community served by a grid of two-lane divided roads with ample bike lanes and sidewalks. It included no four-lane roads.



In the fourth key document, County Commissioner Mike Byerly explains the conflict between the student village concept and the development of Butler Plaza North.