AGENDA ITEM FOR 16 OCT 2003 MEETING OF FACULTY SENATE
(and 14 Oct 2003 meeting of the Student Senate)
1 Oct 2003 draft


ACTION ITEM

Because no traffic study supports a four-lane SW 24th Avenue, it was premature for President Young to propose to donate right-of-way for a four-lane extension of that road through the Natural Area Teaching Laboratory and Preservation Area 1. The Faculty Senate therefore urges President Young to withdraw his commitment of 25 Mar 2003 that the University "will recommend through its Master Plan amendment process that sufficient right-of-way be given to … connect SW 24th Avenue to Archer Road." Withdrawal of the commitment will allow President Young's successor to re-evaluate the wisdom of the donation aided by the results of a traffic study (yet to be made) and input from the appropriate faculty committees.


EXPLANATION

Road not warranted by any traffic study
At the 20 Feb 2003 meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation (MTPO), when Ed Poppell first put the University on record as willing to donate right-of-way for the extension, here is what professional traffic planners and a Citizens Advisory Committee had said about SW 24th since Dec 2000:

(1) The MTPO's 20-year transportation plan, adopted in December 2000, followed the recommendations of the SW 20th Avenue Charrette in proposing a network of two-lane divided roads to mitigate the traffic problems of SW 20th Avenue and the intersection of Archer Road and SW 34th Street. [SW 24th Avenue was to be a new two-lane divided road, and by Dec. 2002, Alachua County had spent approximately $425,000 designing the section from SW 34th Street to SW 43rd Street]

(2) The material for the 20 Feb 2003 public hearing included a 22 Jan 2003 report by Renaissance Planning Group entitled "Analysis for Potential Amendment to the 2020 Transportation Plan." The Summary on page 12 of this report states, "The results of this analysis clearly indicate the adequacy of a two-lane cross-section for SW 62nd Boulevard and SW 24th Avenue and that a four lane cross-section for either road in not warranted." [Butler Enterprises and the MTPO jointly funded this report at a cost of $14 thousand.]

(3) The 20 Feb 2003 meeting material also included a 14 Feb 2003 memo to the MTPO from Marlie Sanderson, Director of Transportation Planning. In this memo, Sanderson reported that

(a) MTPO's Citizens Advisory Committee had not found the four lane cross-section warranted,

(b) MTPO's Technical Advisory Committee had not found the four lane cross-section warranted,

(c) the MTPO staff's recommendation was to "keep the existing two-lane divided configuration for the SW 62nd Boulevard and SW 24th Avenue corridors as described in the adopted SW 20th Avenue Area Charrette Plan and not amend the long range transportation plan."
(details)


Other reasons that President Young's offer was premature

(1) No evaluation was made of the impact of the proposed road on the Conservation Element of the Master Plan. [Studies by the Natural Area Advisory Committee have since shown severe negative effects (details).]

(2) No evaluation was made of the impact of the proposed road on the Natural Area Teaching Laboratory (details), even though President Young was appraised of the liklihood of severe negative impacts (details).

(3) No input was requested from any of the land use committees that normally advise on even minor changes in land use (nor has such input been asked for since) (details).


Documents for and against President Young's offer

Young's administration has released only two documents in support of its decision to offer right-of-way, the most recent being a brief letter of 25 Mar 2003 (details). Young's administration has failed to respond to critiques of suggested benefits or of procedural deficiencies.


Reasons why withdrawal is necessary

(1) Because University of Florida supported an unwarranted road, MTPO changed it's 20-year transportation plan (details)

(2) Because University of Florida supported an unwarranted road, Alachua County contracted with Berryman & Henigar, Inc. for the engineering design of SW 24th Avenue as a 4-lane divided roadway from Southwest 43rd Street to Southwest 34th Street. The design will cost $388,286 and be completed in June 2004 (the same month that the Admininistration proposes to make its decision on the donation). Payments on the contract began last month.

(3) Because University of Florida supported an unwarranted road, local legislators are planning a request "to earmark $12,500,000 in federal transportation funds to enable the completion of the design and construction of ... a four lane facility from Archer Road west to SW 20th Avenue in Gainesville, Florida." A 50% match of $6,250,000 will be requested from the Florida Department of Transportation. (details)

(4) Because University of Florida supported an unwarranted road, the Alachua County Comprehensive Plan 2001-2020 is about to be amended to show SW 24th Avenue as a four-lane roadway on four maps of the Plan's Transportation Mobility Element (see Application CPA-08-03 in a 23 Sep 2003 memorandum from the Alachua County Department of Growth Management).


Summary

Surely the next President of the University Florida should not be required to defend distortions of sound road planning. Instead he should be allowed to await the results of traffic studies and to hear the input of faculty committees before deciding whether to recommend the donation of campus land for a four-lane extension of SW 24th Avenue.