Milton should unite to provide best Caroline Street design possible
It should have ended when the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization repeatedly voted to make FDOT’s plan for Milton a priority.
It should have ended when, despite the best efforts of former Councilman Vernon Compton and Economic Development Director Ed Spears, the TPO again reaffirmed the project’s priority last year.
It should have been over when the council’s plan to spend $100,000 from reserves to study alternatives to the state’s preferred route failed to produce a responsive bidder.
FDOT is going to widen Caroline Street – U.S. 90 – between Stewart Street and Ward Basin Road.
The Legislature approved $2.75 million last year for the project’s design phase; FDOT expects to finalize a contract with Hanson Professional Services Inc. by February. Design will begin as soon as the contract is signed.
Like it or not, the debate is over. Truthfully, it only ever existed in Milton.
The stretch of U.S. 90 through downtown Milton is a small part of a much larger project to improve traffic flow between Scenic Highway in Pensacola and State Road 87 South east of Milton. The Florida-Alabama TPO is comprised of all five Escambia County commissioners, all five Santa Rosa County commissioners, five members of the Pensacola City Council and one representative each from the Gulf Breeze, Milton, and Orange Beach, Ala., city councils and the Baldwin County, Ala., commission.
Milton has one of 19 votes on the body tasked with setting FDOT’s project priorities. One. If the city had presented viable arguments and alternatives before or during the PD&E, it might have expected some support from the TPO. Absent that, no jurisdiction other than the city of Milton has any interest in delaying the project – which will delay how soon other jurisdictions can expect to see benefits from widening U.S. 90.
Are we suggesting that widening Caroline Street through historic downtown Milton is the perfect or preferred solution? No. But the question was posed well before the TPO and FDOT got involved, and nobody came up with an alternative that met FDOT’s standard.
Whether to oppose or cooperate with the state’s plan has polarized city politics for several election cycles, and early indications are that division will continue.
Mayor Heather Lindsay asked the eight-member council – with four newly elected members – to consider a draft resolution pledging to support FDOT’s project and asking the department to honor the city’s input while designing the project. Veteran councilmembers balked at any suggestion the city approved the downtown route and asked Lindsay and staff to rewrite the draft.
The proposed resolution was not included on the council’s Jan. 3 executive committee agenda, although it may have been discussed given the mayor’s desire to have a resolution in place before FDOT approves a design contract.
It seems some councilmembers are posturing to please constituents who live or own property in downtown Milton; that’s understandable from a political perspective but serves no practical purpose.
The time for shaking fists at the sky is over; now it’s time for anyone who cares about Milton to begin building constructive relationships with decisionmakers to ensure the eventual design is the best possible for the city.