Highway Elavated

I saw this article the other day and wanted to see what other people thought of the plan. Evan though I live in Weston, I think this is a little unfair to the other cities.

TRAFFIC

State hunts cash for I-595 in sky

FDOT may ask private investors to pick up the billion-dollar tab for additional lanes on Interstate 595.

BY ANI MARTINEZ

Florida highway officials want to put plans for elevated Interstate 595 lanes on the fast track.

But people who live near the cross-Broward expressway don't want the new lanes built at all.

''In essence, it is taking people from Weston to downtown, so we just get to look at the lanes and listen to the traffic,'' said Plantation resident Mark Grand, one of the residents in the neighboring area, who organized http://www.595alert.org/, which opposes the project. ``Anybody should come to expect that they are going to improve the road, but not elevate it into the sky.''

The elevated lanes would run east in the morning and west in the afternoon. A commuter living in West Broward would get on at the Interstate 75/Sawgrass Expressway interchange in the morning and could get off at Florida's Turnpike or just west of Interstate 95.

There would be no exits in between.

''The way they've designed it, nobody from Davie or Plantation can even use it,'' Grand said. ``It is going to harm the environment and our community.''

The state and a federal agency have approved the elevated express lanes after a public hearing in 2005.

Since then, the municipalities of Plantation and Davie have come out against the elevated lanes.

FDOT is trying to figure out how to pay for them.

''When 595 opened, in a very short period of time it was already over capacity,'' said Alicia Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation. ``We understand the residents may not see the value of improving this corridor with elevated lanes, but what good is looking out of their back door and seeing a parking lot called Interstate 595?

''We need to come up with an alternative for the next 30 to 50 years,'' Gonzalez said.

Also, Gonzalez said, while Plantation wouldn't have an on-ramp for the express lanes, every car that gets on the special lanes in Weston is a car that Plantation residents wouldn't have to compete with on the main highway.

As for appearances, double-deck expressways are widely thought of as eyesores. But FDOT is hoping to build a newer style of elevated lanes, built on a single row of pillars running down the center of the median.

A similar design in Tampa drew little opposition once people saw the pictures, officials there said.

The state has secured some money for the elevated lanes and other I-595 improvements. It could take until 2024 to finish if the state waits for the rest of the money to become available.

But there is another option.

The state Legislature recently passed a law that allows private companies to build roads and charge tolls to recoup their investment.

If the state finds investors and contractors who are willing to pay for the $1.4 billion project, construction of the highway would begin in 2009 and be finished in 2014.

FDOT is seeking private investors and contractors interested in the project. So far, nearly 100 companies from Doral to London have expressed interest.

The problem is that the private company can raise and keep tolls indefinitely.

The project is now in the planning phase.

''We are about to roll out a full campaign in the next month, basically asking for anybody who wants to give us input to talk to us,'' Gonzalez said.

FDOT will be setting up a public hearing to seek input on putting tolls on the elevated lanes. A decision to use public or private dollars for funding will be made by the end of the year, according to FDOT.

About 185,500 cars now use I-595 every day. That's expected to grow to at least 300,000 by 2035, FDOT said.

Although the overflow of cars is obvious and drivers constantly complain that traffic is at a standstill, Broward voters rejected a penny sales tax increase in 2006 that would have raised about $260 million a year to improve transportation.

FDOT also has other projects in mind to revamp I-595:

• Adding lanes on I-595 and State Road 84.

• Completing a missing piece of State Road 84 between Davie Road and U.S. 441.

• Making off-ramps two lanes from I-595 to the interchange crossroads.

• Modifying the I-595/turnpike interchange

Dave Magua

EWM Realtors