CLEARWATER - The Board of Pinellas County Commissioners unanimously approved on Sept. 8 a request from the Public Works Transportation Department to apply for a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery discretionary grant.
The grant money would be used to expand the advanced traffic management system and intelligent transportation system.
Director of Transportation and Public Works Pete Yauch explained that the TIGER discretionary grant program is a competitive program allocating $1.5 billion for transportation projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region.
Pinellas County has been working with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and local municipalities since 1999 to install a regional arterial transportation system. Yauch said although a substantial investment has already been made in the system, there is much left to complete.
The proposed grant application would provide funding to complete phase II of the countywide system and integrate several additional ITS systems that could assist the operation of the overall transportation network.
Yauch said the additional ITS components would include integration of transit priority bus service, emergency management operations, incident management and traveler information systems.
Commission chair Calvin Harris questioned the probable cost of the project of between $35 million and $55 million.
Yauch said staff was still defining the scope of the project and were working against deadline of Sept. 15 to get the grant application finished. He said the cost would be known when the scope was better defined.
He also said that the FDOT was against including the bus rapid transit aspect although county staff believed it was a good idea to get the money to add in key jump lanes. He said FDOT didn’t like the idea because of cost and the need to make geographical changes to U.S. 19.
Commissioner Karen Seel said there were some problems with using a fourth lane on U.S. 19 for buses and emergency vehicles and that any time gained would be minimal.
Harris questioned the benefit of the entire traffic management system.
Yauch said the benefits were already being seen and that historical data showed the public was receiving savings in fuel cost and lost time. He also said there had been an 18 percent reduction in rear-end accidents and a 41 percent reduction in injuries associated with rear-end crashes during the two years the system had been working.
Another benefit is a reduction in vehicle emissions which is good for the environment.
Seel said that a plan had recently surfaced from the FDOT to apply for a TIGER grant to pay for the Bayway Bridge replacement project. Harris asked how that would work since the county had voted against supporting a plan to apply for a grant for the Friendship Trailbridge due to a policy to not compete against itself for grant money.
Yauch said the county knew more about the TIGER grant now than it did during the discussion on the Friendship Trailbridge. He said the grant allowed for applications to different aspects of expertise - technology, roadway and bridges.
“I don’t believe we’ll be competing,” he said. “I think each application will stand on its own with a scale of qualified, not qualified and highly qualified. Each project will stand on its own merits.”
“If that’s the case wouldn’t the Friendship Trailbridge stand on its own,” asked Commissioner Neil Brickfield.
Yauch said it would. He also said that staff had not objected to making a TIGER application for the Friendship Trailbridge so much due to the competition but more due to lack of staff time to prepare applications for two projects.
Yauch said the U.S. Department of Transportation would decide who gets grant money by February 2010 and that any approved project had to be complete within two years.
“I’m all for this,” Brickfield said. “This $88 million (total budgeted amount for ATMS-ITS) affects more people than those who will benefit from the $83 million earmarked for the Progress Energy Trail. It’s almost a pleasure to drive down U.S. 19 today.”
