18-Mile Stretch project gets go-ahead
Army Corps of Engineers issues permit for evacuation lane, concrete
divider
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff Writer
After nearly a decade of
heated debate over the Florida Keys' most controversial section of
highway, the Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to the Florida
Department of Transportation to add a cement divider to separate lanes
of traffic on the 18-Mile Stretch, and add a second northbound lane for
emergency hurricane evacuation.
The Stretch is the
primary of two roads connecting the Keys to the mainland. The number of
lanes needed on the expanse of highway has been a divisive issue for
many years. The debate has pitted some Upper Keys residents who fear
adding lanes will result in more traffic congestion and encourage
development, against some Middle and Lower Keys residents who cite the
high number of head-on collisions and worry that the two-lane road could
become a deadly bottleneck during a storm evacuation.
A compromise of two lanes
with wide shoulders, with a third lane being used for northbound traffic
only during evacuations, was approved by Gov. Jeb Bush in August 2001.
The proposed project
extends from Mile Marker 106 near Abaco Road to the junction of U.S. 1
and Card Sound Road in Miami-Dade County.
"We are surprised and
disappointed that despite clear facts to the contrary, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers has decided to reward the Florida Department of
Transportation for nearly 20 years of extorting the public to get a
boondoggle project instead of requiring FDOT to install safety
enhancements that have proven effective, less costly, less
environmentally damaging and faster to implement," Key Largo activist
John Hammerstrom said.
Some who have battled the
project expect that the permit will be challenged in court.
"I wouldn't, but I
wouldn't be surprised if it did happen," Hammerstrom said.
The project will improve
safety by incorporating current safety design standards, providing
improved emergency evacuation and upgrading the bridge at Jewfish Creek,
said Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Sonya Goines.
Corps officials said the
federal agency considered all comments and concerns of the public,
including those received at a public meeting held on March 10 in Key
Largo.
"The Corps has worked
hard within its scope of authority to analyze all the issues associated
with the requested modifications to the 18-Mile Stretch of U.S. 1," said
Col. Robert Carpenter, commander of the Jacksonville District Corps of
Engineers. "Protecting adjacent wetlands, considering the safety of the
public, and the overall public interest are all compelling factors in my
determination."
Late last year, FDOT
modified its application to significantly reduce environmental impacts
from the original four-lane proposal to the current two-lane safety
project with a 10-foot wide paved northbound shoulder for use as an
emergency evacuation lane.
The Corps permit will not
allow FDOT to convert the northbound evacuation lane to a permanent
travel lane, or otherwise add additional travel lanes, Goines said.
Impacts to wetlands and seagrass have been reduced to the greatest
extent practicable while maintaining current safety standards, she said.
tohara@keysnews.com |
