TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE: ST. JOHNS COUNTY MANAGES TO GET POSITIVE "SPIN" ON REJECTING TWELVE MILE SWAMP ROAD IT PROPOSED IN THE FIRST PLACE, WITHOUT THE RECORD EVER REPORTING THAT FACT!

Twelve Mile Swamp road off the map
Draft plan changes in response to public, official comments
Posted: June 12, 2014 - 12:19am
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
A road that would have cut through part of Twelve Mile Swamp is no longer part of a preliminary long-range transportation planning map.
St. Johns County Commissioners decided in late May to send a letter to the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization after hearing discussion about the road proposal earlier in the month.
The road is referred to as an extension of State Road 313 in the draft of the 2040 Needs Plan, which addresses needs in several counties including St. Johns.
Metropolitan planning organizations are required by federal regulations to prepare long-range transportation plans, according to the North Florida TPO. Long-range plans have to be updated at least every five years.
The idea was to a have a corridor between Interstate 95 and S.R 313 that would connect to the future First Coast Expressway.
The road was part of a draft of a long-range transportation needs plan but will not be part of the proposal that is scheduled to be up for approval by TPO officials today, said Denise Bunnewith, planning director of the North Florida TPO.
The road would have gone north and west of State Road 313 to International Golf Parkway and to the future First Coast Expressway.
Because of the environmental impacts, the road probably would not have made it much further in the planning process anyway, Bunnewith said.
“Because it’s through protected lands, it would’ve drawn a number of red flags,” she said.
Several people spoke out against the road, saying that it could harm water quality and wildlife. Sarah Gledhill, a planning advocate for the Florida Wildlife Federation, was among those who spoke to commissioners.
After the commission sent the letter, the road was taken off the map.
“That’s how the public process should work, and I think we saw a clear example of public participation working in the planning process,” Gledhill said.
Bunnewith said the North Florida TPO received other letters, including one from the Matanzas Riverkeeper and the St. Johns Riverkeeper.
At the early stage of updating its long-range plans, the North Florida TPO includes a wide variety of projects and uses public comment to help whittle the projects. The plan then goes through a more thorough review.
“That’s the way the process is supposed to work,” Bunnewith said.
One of the next steps for North Florida TPO officials is to identify projects on the needs plan that are financially feasible. More public workshops are expected in the summer.