A major portion of Tallahassee\u2019s Airport Gateway project could be eliminated after members of the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency learned that state officials do not plan to approve the use of state-owned property needed for a key roadway segment.<\/p>\n
The issue surfaced during the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Board\u2019s Sept. 24 meeting when Leon County Commissioner Christian Caban presented an email from the Florida Office of Cabinet Affairs concerning Segment C of the Airport Gateway.<\/p>\n
Segment C calls for approximately 1.2 miles of new roadway connecting Orange Avenue to Stuckey Avenue. The proposed divided boulevard would include pedestrian and bicycle facilities.<\/p>\n
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the state email said there are \u201cno plans to bring this project to the governor and cabinet,\u201d a necessary step for Blueprint to acquire the state-owned land. The email also indicated the state did not recommend approval because the proposal was incompatible with the current use of the property.<\/p>\n
Caban said the message effectively ends the segment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSegment C is dead,\u201d Caban said, according to WCTV.<\/p>\n
The disclosure also raised questions about communications between Blueprint and state officials. Blueprint Director of Place Artie White told commissioners that staff was seeing the information for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re reading it at the same time you are,\u201d White said, according to the Tallahassee Democrat report.<\/p>\n
City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, chairman of the Blueprint board, and several county commissioners called for additional verification before making a final decision. The board ultimately voted unanimously to postpone action while staff confirms the state\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
The decision could have significant financial implications.<\/p>\n
Blueprint documents show Segment C carried an estimated cost of approximately $16.6 million in a May 2023 estimate, including about $2.75 million for planning and design. At that time, approximately $2.2 million was listed as encumbered or expended on the segment.<\/p>\n
Attention is now turning to whether money associated with Segment C \u2014 and potentially other portions of the Airport Gateway \u2014 should be redirected to improvements along West Tharpe Street.<\/p>\n
Caban has advocated shifting Airport Gateway funding to Tharpe Street, where plans include sidewalks, drainage improvements and other transportation upgrades. County Commissioner Rick Minor also expressed support for the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get $20 million from Segment C to Tharpe Street, that helps us with construction,\u201d Minor told WCTV.<\/p>\n
The Tharpe Street project faces a substantial funding gap. Recent estimates put the project\u2019s cost at approximately $62.3 million, while Blueprint has allocated about $9.5 million, leaving a projected $52.8 million funding need through 2040.<\/p>\n
The debate represents a significant development for the Airport Gateway, one of Blueprint\u2019s major transportation initiatives. The overall project was designed to improve connections between Tallahassee International Airport, southwest Tallahassee, Innovation Park and downtown.<\/p>\n
WTXL previously reported that the Airport Gateway was promoted as both a transportation and economic-development project, with officials arguing that improved connections could encourage investment in southwest Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
However, the entire Airport Gateway is not necessarily in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
It appears commissioners could scale the project back toward its original configuration, concentrating on improvements along Springhill Road and North Lake Bradford Road while eliminating Segment C and possibly redirecting the associated funding.<\/p>\n
Blueprint staff is expected to return to the board after verifying the state\u2019s position, setting up a decision over whether to continue pursuing Segment C or move millions of dollars toward other transportation priorities, including West Tharpe Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major portion of Tallahassee\u2019s Airport Gateway project could be eliminated after members of the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-413848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}