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Florida Department of
TRANSPORTATION
Safety, Innovation, Mobility, Attract, Retain & Train
Education and Outreach

Educate — The Public, Officials, and Engineers.

  • Why expand?
    • Florida is growing, recently becoming the third most populated state.
    • The need for more capacity is evident with increased travel times and highly congested roadways.
    • FDOT uses existing right-of-way first. Right-of-way costs increase when property values increase. Driving up the cost for new capacity projects outside of existing rights-of-way.
  • Where can we landscape?
    • Landscaping funds must be used within FDOT right-of-way.
    • Must meet clear zone requirements, which is different for each roadway
      • The total roadside border area starting at the edge of the travel lane, available for safe use by errant vehicles. This area may consist of a shoulder, a recoverable slope, a non-recoverable slope, and/or a clear runout area. The clear zone width is dependent upon the traffic volumes and speeds, and on the roadside geometry.
    • Must provide ample Sight distance issues- An unobstructed view of the upcoming roadway
    • Green space may contain Utilities (phone, cable, electric, gas lines) and drainage structures or swales.
  • When can we landscape?
    • Construction project schedule constraints - Time adjustments made for weather, holidays and other time related construction issues.
    • Funding allocation cycles- spending 1.5 % of the construction budget per year on landscaping. As construction projects shift, so do landscaping projects and funding.
    • Established community priorities- We are listening and are trying to fit in community priorities for each.
  • What landscape can be proposed?
    • District Two FDOT has developed a Landscape Branding Guideline to be consistent with the District’s objectives and approach for implementing consistent, predictable and repeatable BOLD landscaping projects that are attractive, cost effective, constructible and minimizing long term maintenance activities. Factors include size, sustainability maintenance, consistency and safety.
  • Training
    • Engineers and planners to account for existing vegetation and landscaping opportunities in Project Development and Design. The idea is this CANNOT wait until ground is broken on a construction project. Discussions will take place during development of projects and unfortunately this isn’t being done currently.

Outreach — Access to the Information

Increased access through enhanced:

  • Mapping of landscape and construction projects which will be published frequently
  • Availability of Landscape Architectural Professionals to Assist Citizens and Local Officials
  • Enhanced visualization capabilities and graphics provided by FDOT
    • We want to show you what a project will look like at completion.

Outreach to Stakeholders

Officials, Community Stakeholders, to Neighborhoods — We want you to know what we are up to!

  1. Project Development Public Meetings

    We want to meet on a regional basis and for specific projects- Educate about what can be done, Vegetation Impacts for specific projects and look at potential areas that could be landscaped. This stage is where we want public input on our plans and concepts.
    2.  
  2. Project Specific Public Meetings

    We will represent FDOTree at public meetings where vegetation may be impacted including road capacity projects and work with our planning group to look at existing vegetation and what may be able to be saved. Also identify impacted areas within 6 months of Construction. We will also provide Future Landscape Potential Renderings.
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Florida Department of Transportation

Consistent, Predictable, Repeatable