Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Bay Times article on MPO meeting:
TRANSPORTATION
In wee hours, Hillsborough leaders approve Tampa Bay Express, keep it in long-term plan
By CAITLIN JOHNSON Times Staff Writer
Published: June 23, 2016
Updated: June 23, 2016 at 08:53 AM
TAMPA — It was one step forward for Tampa Bay Express, one giant step backward for the opposition.
The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization voted 12 to 4 shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday morning to keep the controversial $6 billion road project known as TBX on track and in its long-term funding plans.
But what was an incremental step for TBX was a big setback for the critics, who oppose the plan to add 90 miles of tolled express lanes to the interstate system linking five counties and viewed the meeting as their chance to stop the project from moving forward.
Despite mounting opposition from Central Tampa neighborhoods and groups like 1,000 Friends of Florida, the vote to approve the project did not come as a surprise. Only two of 16 members — Tampa City Councilman Guido Maniscalco and Hillsborough County Commissioner and MPO Chairman Les Miller — had publicly stated their intent to vote against the project before Wednesday’s public hearing.
County Commissioner Kevin Beckner and Tampa City Councilwoman Lisa Montelione were the other two dissenting votes.
“The work that all of you put in for your community has been unprecedented, at least in my experience,” Montelione told the weary crowd. “You can’t be discouraged. You can’t let this give you the opportunity to throw your hands up and say, ‘That’s it. I’m done. I’m tired. We lost. I’m over it.’”
Miller attempted to block the most controversial aspects of the plan from proceeding — the downtown interchange, Interstate 275 from downtown north to Bearss Avenue, and Interstate 4 east to Plant City — but that motion was voted down 5-11. Planning Commissioner Trent Green was the fifth vote.
“We’ve got to realize that the people that’s going to be effected the most don’t want this,” Miller said.
While the vote to approve the long-range plan in its current form easily passed the board, Hillsborough County Commissioners Sandy Murman and Beckner both sought to add extra oversight and accountability measures to the project.
Murman’s amendment called for increased communication between the MPO and FDOT, including quarterly updates. Beckner took that a step further by requiring FDOT to present reports on the human impact of the project, mitigation plans for the affected neighborhoods, options for premium transit in the area, and any updates on a federal inquiry into whether the project violates civil rights laws.
Both amendments passed unanimously.
Plant City Commissioner Nate Kilton commended the audience on their passion for their communities, but said TBX needed to move forward as “one cohesive package” if it was going to be successful.
“I have significant concerns about taking out these sections of the road,” Kilton said. “One of the biggest problems is the bottleneck we have at I-4 and I-275. If we’re not going to correct that, then why even bother with this, to be perfectly honest?
TBX received strong support from the business community, many of whom attended the eight-hour meeting to advocate for the project which will expand I-275, I-4 and Interstate 75 from Pinellas Park through Westshore and downtown Tampa, north to Pasco County, east to Polk County and south to Manatee County.
Though a majority of the board voted in support of TBX, many of them were noticeably silent during the meeting, speaking only to cast their votes.
Tampa City Councilman Harry Cohen voted to keep TBX on the board’s long-range plan, but was not without his reservations.
“I want you to know categorically that I am very skeptical of the toll lane concept,” Cohen said. “And I am going to be asking the question of every person that is running for governor in the next cycle, ‘What is your position on toll lanes?’ This conversation is not over.”
Hundreds of people flooded Hillsborough County Center and spent hours urging the MPO’s board to either approve or reject the massive road project.
Opponents waved signs and wore buttons imploring the MPO to remove TBX from the plan, which would effectively kill the project.
They arrived hours before the meeting, eager to make their voices heard. And when they filled every seat in the board room, they were directed to overflow seating downstairs where there still weren’t enough chairs to accommodate everyone. An estimated 500 people turned out for the meeting.
“We can do better,” Michelle Cookson, a member of the Stop TBX Coalition, told the MPO. “We’re at a critical crossroad, and we can turn toward prosperity and economic stability and 21st century growth. Or we can stay stuck in the past.”
Though speakers opposed to the project outnumbered those in favor by a 2:1 ratio, many in the audience supported TBX. They flashed “TBXyes” stickers, wore green T-shirts, and told the board TBX will provide much-needed relief for an overburdened interstate system.
“Our transportation needs are great,” said Don Skelton, former secretary for Florida Department of Transportation’s district office. “This is an investment in transportation, which is an investment in economic growth.
“If we can’t move people and goods, we’re going to strangle ourselves economically.”
The distinction between opponents and supporters was stark.
Some of the challengers sported T-shirts and pajama pants, while many of the champions stood in suits and ties. They varied not just in dress, but in occupation: students, entrepreneurs and teachers spoke out against the project while executives, engineers and former FDOT secretaries advocated for its continuation.
“These are people who are paid to be here for this project because this project benefits their employers,” Seminole Heights resident and business owner Nikki Rice said to the board. “It is time now to consider your constituents.”
They introduced themselves as either residents of a neighborhood or members of the business community. When they stated their address for the record, the geographical divide was clear: the opposition hailed mostly from Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights and other urban neighborhoods while the supporters listed addresses in Wesley Chapel, New Tampa and Pinellas County.
And when the final vote was announced, they either resolved to continue their fight or breathed a sigh of relief.
“We have engaged and energized many hundreds of citizens to be involved in our most critical issue: transportation,” Cookson said following the vote. “We have brought the focus back to where it ought to be. We need transit, many systems that are connected and move more people and goods in less space.”
About 185 people signed up to address the board. Not all of those individuals spoke, but public comment lasted seven hours. The board then deliberated for an hour and voted shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday to approve the long-range plan.
This is the fourth time in three months that a public transportation hearing drew large, passionate crowds and stretched late into the night. In April and then again in June, Hillsborough County Commissioners heard from hundreds of people about whether to put a half-cent sales tax for transportation on the November ballot.
Commissioners rejected the referendum both times.
When it is completed decades from now, TBX will add managed toll lanes to 90 miles of previously free roads.
But these won’t just be typical toll lanes. Unlike the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, which charges a flat rate, the cost of using TBX’s express toll lanes will fluctuate based on demand. When traffic in the main lanes is at its worst, it could cost a driver $2 to travel a single mile in the express lane — or $15 to travel the 7½ miles from Bearss Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The project also includes a new northbound span of the Howard Frankland Bridge and will revamp the downtown and Westshore interchanges.
But the project needs the approval of the Hillsborough MPO, a group comprised of elected officials and representatives from public entities that evaluates transportation and development.
“FDOT is committed to working with the community on transportation solutions for our region,” FDOT district spokeswoman Kris Carson said. “We will continue the public outreach as we plan and prepare for TBX.”
Thursday morning’s vote allows the project to move forward, but it in no way finalizes it or prevents officials from opposing it in the future. The MPO must approve its Transportation Improvement Program every year, so funding for TBX phases such as the downtown interchange expansion could be nixed in the future.
Because of that, supporters like Michael Peterson with the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors said this allowed the MPO “to hedge your bets tonight.”
“Voting yes for TBX only allows less than $500,000 for voluntary purchases (in the next year) and you get another year to work out the problems,” Peterson said.
FDOT has told local officials that if they remove TBX from Hillsborough’s long-range plan, then the billions the state will allocate for the project in future years would go elsewhere — but not to other road improvements or transit projects here in the bay area. Instead, the money would be used to add toll lanes to highways in other parts of Florida.
That’s not a threat, state officials have said repeatedly, just the reality. Regardless, the fear of losing out on that funding motivated many of those who came out to support TBX.
“If we reject TBX our tax dollars will be spent by somewhere else, somewhere else in Florida,” Ken Roberts said.
But while many at the MPO hearing viewed the project as an “all-or-nothing,” siding with either TBXyes or Stop TBX, Tampa resident Taylor Ralph said he represented a new constituency: the “TBX Maybe” folks.
Taylor encouraged the board not to let FDOT dictate what projects move forward, but instead to ask that TBX be split into its individual components. He suggested the MPO put the development of the toll lanes on hold while other options are studied.
Meanwhile, he said the MPO and FDOT should move forward with critical improvements, such as rebuilding the northbound span of the Howard Frankland.
“We’ve been told we either accept all of the TBX plan, including the tolled and express lanes, or we don’t get anything,” Ralph said. “They’re playing a game with our tax dollars.
“We call the shots … we develop the priorities.”
Contact Caitlin Johnston at cjohnston@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3401. Follow @cljohnst
