INDIAN SHORES – Mayor Jim Lawrence made an impassioned plea to a key aide to Gov. Charlie Crist asking her to lean on the governor to look under the sofa cushions for the money needed to complete the planned Gulf Boulevard beautification project.
The Florida Department of Transportation says it can’t find the money to complete the job as originally planned.
The town and FDOT have been at loggerheads over the reconstruction of Gulf Boulevard. The ambitious project is in danger of being significantly scaled back because of an alleged lack of state money.
The town feels that FDOT dragged its feet on the construction schedule while costs mounted. Mayor James Lawrence said about $11 million more is needed to carry out the full project as planned. FDOT said it doesn’t have the funds and wants a cheaper substitute for the planned project.
Road design components such as sidewalks, street lighting, banners on light posts and other features that would give a common and attractive theme, a long sought objective of most municipalities along the boulevard, is in jeopardy.
R. Michelle Todd, special assistant to Crist, met with Lawrence, council member William Smith and Indian Shores’ resident Ed Burnett to discuss the Gulf Boulevard funding issue. According to Smith, the mayor emphasized that the $3 million already spent on roadway design would be trashed if the state goes ahead with the scaled down version.
“We presented our case very well and hopefully we will get a favorable decision from the governor. Thanks to Mayor Lawrence and his good work, we are pursuing this in every possible way,” Smith said.
Several residents have contacted the county, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which prioritizes expenditures that FDOT parcels out, and the Florida Department of Transportation to urge full funding of the project. Lawrence said the MPO recommended that the Indian Shores project would receive the necessary funds three years ago.
Council member Marlene Clausen said she also is aware of several citizens who made contact and received responses to their e-mails.
Smith said that Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island, and U.S. Rep Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, also have waded in on behalf of the town.
“We’ve touched about every base that we can,” Smith said. “We have not given up on getting the road.”
Lawrence said Rep. James C “Jim” Frishe, R-St. Petersburg, received 75 letters from citizens urging the need to develop the boulevard as planned.
“I think I am making progress,” Frishe told the Barrier Islands Governmental Council on July 25 “They (FDOT) are really actively looking for ways to come up with the money.”
The roadway construction was originally planned to be accomplished with the utility undergrounding, which began almost two years ago to minimize total cost and public impacts.
