Northern Turnpike Extension Exhibit Room

The Northern Turnpike Extension project is a proposed extension of Florida’s Turnpike “from its northerly terminus in Wildwood to a logical and appropriate terminus as determined by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)” per Senate Bill 100 of 2021, codified in section 339.66(6) Florida Statutes.

The Legislature finds that the extension of Florida’s Turnpike is in the strategic interest of the state.

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

This project follows the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) project development process, which has five phases as shown here. Today, we are in the first phase of the project development process, which is the planning phase. The project is currently being screened through the Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) process by environmental resource agencies. Input from the resource agencies will be used to refine alternative corridors to avoid and minimize impacts to environmentally sensitive features to the extent possible.

 

This Public Kickoff Meeting is also a part of the planning phase where we are following the Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) process.

During the ACE process, existing conditions are assessed, preliminary future traffic is forecasted, and corridor analysis is completed along with other documentation. The ACE process will evaluate alternative corridors with respect to project goals and unreasonable corridors will eliminated, resulting in a recommended alternative corridor for detailed evaluation during the Project Development and Environment (PD&E), which is phase 2.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

This exhibit presents the project approach. The initial step was to complete study area analysis considering engineering and environmental factors, as well as previous studies and reports to identify a set of preliminary alternative corridors.

Currently the project is in the ACE process with ETDM screening underway. Corridor evaluation criteria will be prepared and used in the corridor analysis which will eliminate unreasonable corridors and recommend a corridor to advance into the PD&E study.

The PD&E study will evaluate an option to not build the project or no build alternative against build alternatives.  After consideration of analysis results as well as agency and public input, a preferred alignment or a no build alternative will be selected at the conclusion of the PD&E study.

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

The study area covers Citrus, Levy, Marion, and Sumter counties. The project is a proposed extension of Florida’s Turnpike “from its northerly terminus in Wildwood to a logical and appropriate terminus as determined by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)” per Senate Bill (SB) 100 (2021), codified in section 339.66(6), Florida Statutes.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

Future land use in the study area can be grouped into eleven common categories as shown on this map. These categories are Agriculture, Commercial, Conservation, Extractive (mining), Industrial, Mixed Use, Public, Recreation, Residential, Water, and the Farmland Preservation Area. These uses were synthesized from county comprehensive plans.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

The goals of the Northern Turnpike Extension project are to enhance regional connectivity; accommodate increased travel demand associated with projected population growth; address regional congestion and safety issues; and improve hurricane evacuation.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents –Public Kickoff Meeting section.

The goal of enhancing regional transportation connectivity is driven by a need to increase mobility and provide route choices for regional travelers within, to, and from and through the study area.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

The goal to accommodate increased travel demand is driven by projected increases in population and employment growth in the state of Florida and within the study area.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

The goal to address regional congestion and safety is driven by crashes and mobility issues in the study area.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

Evaluating how well the project meets the goal to improve hurricane evacuation times will rely upon an evaluation of travel times and shelter demand for local and regional evacuees within and through the study area.

 

Analysis of a category 5 storm shows that approximately 356,000 people would need to evacuate their homes in the study area, creating more than 199,000 evacuating vehicles and resulting in a clearance time of 24 to 56 hours, which is the time it takes for people to evacuate from the point when the evacuation order is issued until the last evacuee can either leave the evacuation zone or arrive at safe shelter within the county.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

This image shows four initial alternative corridors that are being screened in the Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) process by environmental resource agencies. These corridors will be evaluated in the Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) process, where one objective is to eliminate unreasonable corridors resulting in a recommended alternative corridor for detailed evaluation during the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study.

These initial corridors were drawn with a minimum buffer width of 1,000 feet for the purpose of evaluating potential impacts and allowing flexibility for developing narrower alignments that will avoid or minimize impacts during the PD&E study. Areas near potential interchange locations and other areas are wider than 1,000 feet to provide flexibility and allow evaluation of different geometry and interchange configurations in the PD&E study.

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise began the planning phase of the Northern Turnpike Extension in October 2021. The project is currently in early stages of development with the Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) screening and Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) process underway.

 

The Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study is scheduled for completion in Spring 2023.

 

All graphics are available for download on the main project website www.floridasturnpike.com/NTE under the Documents – Public Kickoff Meeting section.

If you would like to speak with someone regarding this project, please contact one of the Turnpike representatives listed here.

This project is being developed in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, or family status. Please contact one of the Title VI coordinators shown here to express any concerns regarding Florida Turnpike’s compliance with Title VI.