Resolution 335-1991
~, :'-
" ,-
'- <=>
,'-
~-'~ -
"
", l~
u...
LW
~ C/)
u.,:
-..J ?\
- -
LL
, 0::::
:z:
o
1:
Commissioner A. Earl Cheal
RESOLUTION NO. 335
-1991
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE
COUNTY, FLORIDA, REQUESTING THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION TO INITIATE AND COMPLETE WITHIN A SIX MONTH
PERIOD A FEASIBILITY STUDY CONCERNING THE CONCEPT OF CREATING A
TOLL ROAD SYSTEM ALONG U.S. 1 AND CARD SOUND ROAD IN MONROE
COUNTY TO EXPEDITE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO THOSE PRIMARY
ACCESS AND EVACUATION ROUTES TO THE FLORIDA KEYS AT THE EARLIEST
POSSIBLE TIME; DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE BOARD TO FORWARD
COPIES OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE GOVERNOR, THE SECRETARIES OF
THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
AND THE COUNTY'S LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION.
WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Transportation's
currently adopted five-year work program provides that
construction of the replacement structure over Jewfish Creek
and Lake Surprise lying in Monroe County would commence no
earlier than 1994 and;
WHEREAS, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners
has, in past years, petitioned the Florida Department of
Transportation by resolution number 790-1989 and previous
resolutions to consider expediting the construction of this
project by raising additional funding by creating a separate
toll facility system, which resolutions, however, were never
formally responded to by FDOT, and;
WHEREAS, recent federal and state transportation
legislation has encouraged the creation of additional toll
facilities in order to expedite the replacement and expansion of
the nation's and state's crumbling infrastructure, and;
WHEREAS, the initial construction of U.S. 1 in the Keys
over the roadbed of the destroyed Florida East Coast Railroad
after the 1935 hurricane was paid for in its entirety by a toll
road system, and;
WHEREAS, the Jewfish Creek Draw Bridge, just north of Key
Largo on U.S. 1, which was constructed in 1944, has in recent
years been plagued by unscheduled breakdowns and is not reliable
in the event of a hurricane, and;
WHEREAS, Monroe County is proceeding on a parallel course
with FDOT in order to fund, at a projected cost of some $11
million dollars, and implement a project to raise portions of
Card Sound Road (C-905 and C-905A) in Monroe County from
elevations as low as +2 feet (N.G.V.D.) to a minimum of +5 feet
to extend the period of time that Card Sound Road can be
utilized, simultaneously and paired with u.S. 1 from Key Largo
to Florida City, for emergency evacuation purposes, and;
WHEREAS, key FDOT personnel have indicated in their
informal personal opinions that the four-laning project for
u.S. 1 in Monroe and Dade Counties will not be completed and
open to traffic for at least some ten years because of
insufficient available funding as the project is presently
proposed to continue as a non-toll facility, and;
WHEREAS, the Monroe County Hurricane Evacuation Plan as
recently adopted by this Board of County Commissioners provides
that the Florida Keys must be fully evacuated in a Category 3, 4
or 5 hurricane in order to avoid massive loss of life and,
further, that existing Red Cross hurricane shelters throughout
the Keys will not be manned in Category 3 and higher storms, and;
WHEREAS, the imposition of a toll on U.S. 1 at Jewfish
Creek, balanced with the existing toll system along Card Sound
Road as an independent toll system appears to be one way of
reducing the necessary time to implement both the U. S. 1
Jewfish Creek Bridge and Card Sound projects by several years,
thus potentially saving many lives, and;
WHEREAS, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners by
Resolution 245-1991 urged early completion of a fixed span
bridge replacement at Jewfish Creek and said resolution urged
President George Bush, Representative Dante Fascell, Senator
Bob Graham, Senator Connie Mack, Governor Lawton Chiles,
Representative Ron Saunders, Senator Larry Plummer, the
Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the DCA to
make that bridge replacement the highest priority project in
Monroe County even divesting funds from other projects to
provide funding, and;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA, as follows:
1. The Board hereby requests the Florida Department of
Transportation to initiate and complete within not more than a
six month period from the date hereof a feasibility study that
will address the concept of creating a toll system on U.S. 1 at
the Jewfish Creek Bridge paired with Card Sound Road as an
improved two-lane toll facility at Key Largo along County roads
905 and 905A. This study should identify at a minimum:
a. Whether federal and state legislation would be
necessary to recreate a toll operation along U.S. I at Jewfish
Creek,
b. Potential traffic and earnings which would be
generated by this toll road system,
c. Amount of tolls that would be required along both
U.S. 1 and Card Sound Road to retire any necessary implementing
revenue bond issues over alternative amortization periods,
including potential impact of any toll discount system that may
be created,
d. Amount of time that could potentially be saved in
opening the improved toll road system including both Card Sound
Road and U.S. 1 to traffic over the presently unfunded or
partially funded and mostly uncertain timing construction
program,
e. Whether excess toll revenues generated from the
U.S. 1 Jewfish Creek Bridge/Card Sound Road improvement projects
cold be established as a capital improvement/master plan
mitigation fund for all future FDOT U.S. 1 capacity upgrade
projects throughout the Florida Keys;
2. The Clerk of the Board is hereby directed to forward a
certified copy of this resolution to Governor Lawton Chiles,
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Ben Watts, FDOT
District 6 Secretary Charles Baldwin, Florida Department of
Community Affairs Secretary Bill Sadowski, Senator Larry
Plummer, Representative Ron Saunders and U. S. Representative
Dante Fascell.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of
Monroe County, Florida at a regular meeting of the Board held on
the 18th day of Seotember , 1991.
Mayor Harvey
Mayor Pro Tem London
Commissioner Cheal
Commissioner Jones
Commissioner Stormont
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Absent
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
(S EA L)
ATTEST: DANNY L. KOLHAGE, CLERK
By
~..---._..-.",- ~
~~a'"W. \..~
Mayor/Chairman
~
,
BY~~
Deput Clerk
~
~ AS TO FORM
By G SUFF{CIENCY.
At~ 0IIit>>
0. 3D ~ ~J