Indian Street Bridge project to bring money, thousands of jobs to Treasure Coast
April 16th, 2009 by TCPalm.comTALLAHASSEE — The long-sought Indian Street Bridge, along with 16 other transportation projects expected to bring money and jobs to the Treasure Coast, got the green light from the state Joint Legislative Budget Commission Wednesday.
The 14-member commission comprised of Senate and House members agreed, without debate, to accept $3.8 billion in federal dollars that will pay for a cornucopia of projects targeting transportation, health and education.
Backers say the package will help the state recover from the worst recession in decades.
“These are turn-dirt, immediate projects that will allow us to create jobs across the state,” said Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, and co-chairman of the budget commission. “… For the Treasure Coast, it’s a landmark day.”
The panel, which is obligated to review all state spending, was required to approve the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 approved by Congress earlier this year. State and local officials submitted proposals to federal agencies in charge of divvying up the $788 billion stimulus package.
The transportation projects were approved for funding by Gov. Charlie Crist’s Office of Economic Recovery earlier this month. Transportation officials told panelists many of the projects are ready to go but were deferred when trust fund revenues fell. Those projects could resume in relatively short order once the paperwork clears over the next several weeks.
“This puts an official stamp of approval on what we confidently hoped would happen,” said Carolyn Davi, executive director of the Palm City Chamber.
Atop the four lists of projects recommended by the state Department of Transportation was $128 million for the bridge that is to provide a second link between Stuart and Palm City.
“I believe this is it,” said Assistant Martin County Administrator Jim Sherman. “It’s a done deal.”
State and local officials believe the $174 million bridge project — which still faces a federal environmental lawsuit by Palm City resident Odias Smith — is expected to create 3,586 construction jobs. County officials say they have raised the rest of the money over the years to cover the additional cost of the bridge.
Proponents say the bridge is needed to relieve congestion on the Palm City Bridge, give emergency vehicles a second route over the St. Lucie River and facilitate hurricane evacuation.
Opponents view the span as an unneeded effort by developers to create a speedway to additional western sprawl and only further cause traffic problems along Kanner Highway.
With about 40 percent of the land for the bridge still in private hands, Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard questions if the span meets the “shovel ready” requirements of the stimulus package.
“We do have some transportation improvements that we should have made in Martin County in the last six years,” Heard said, “and instead we’ve just been throwing all of our money, including money that we don’t have, into this one project.”
Barring unexpected delays, construction could start in early 2010 and take nearly three years to complete.
PROJECTS APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET COMMISSION
• Martin County, Indian Street Bridge: $128 million
• Indiantown: Resurfacing, County Road 609, Allapattah Road, from State Road 710 to State Road 714. $2 million
• Stuart: Road resurfacing, Baker Road from Publix property line to Savannah Road. $250,000
• Stuart: Southbound right-turn lane, State Road 707 at Northwest Wright Boulevard. $216,849
• Stuart: Greenway bikepath/sidewalk, Seabranch. $250,000
By Michael Peltier, Jim Turner
Staff writers George Andreassi, Ed Bierschenk and Eric Pfahler contributed to this report.
Tags: bars, bridge, budget, commissioners, Crist, development, education, emergency, federal, green, hand, Health, housing, hurricanes, Indiantown, jobs, lawsuit, money, property, Publix, raise, raises, recession, roads, sidewalks, stimulus, Stuart, Tallahassee, Traffic
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July 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 pm
HELLO, I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN MARTIN COUNTY, THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN IT THE WORKS FOR DECADES AND OFTEN OTHER NEEDED PROJECTS HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF THE MONEY NEEDED FOR THIS PROJECT. AT THE PRESENT TIME, MOST EVERYONE COULD USE A FINANCIAL BOOST THAT A PROJECT OF THIS SIZE WOULD DELIVER TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY PLUS, OTHER PROJECTS WON’T HAVE TO BE PASSED OVER AS MUCH AFTER THIS IS COMPLETED, TRAFFIC WOULD BE EASIER FOR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AS WELL AS DAILY COMMUTERS. THIS WOULD ALSO HELP DURING EVACUATIONS AND WILL BE AN ADDED VALUE TO THE COUNTY FOR MANY YEARS TO COME. I WILL OFFER MY SERVICES AT A REDUCED RATE FOR THE DURATION OF THE PROJECT TO HELP SAVE MONEY FOR MARTIN COUNTY.I THINK THIS IS VERY MUCH NEEDED AT THIS TIME FOR THIS AREA. THANKS AND GOOD LUCK!!, PAT DALTON