It's About Growth: Road Warrior

Recognizing that Collier County had failed to construct

needed new roads or improve existing ones, the county’s board of commissioners

revamped its public works department in 2000. Norman Feder, then the director

of the Southwest Florida office of the state Department of Transportation, was

brought in to head the newly created Collier County Transportation Division.

Feder has helped the county develop a five-year road plan and get it funded

through bonding—after voters last year rejected a half-cent sales tax. Feder

recently discussed his successes, challenges and the possibility of a

headache-free drive in Collier.

What have you accomplished since you came on board as

traffic administrator in August 2000?

Probably the most important is the reorganization of our

transportation department from public works to a district-wide team. When I

came on board some department heads were not yet in place; and I was able to

entice some very, very good people to come down.

A second important accomplishment is the development of the

five-year transportation plan. Before, no process looked at developing actual

schedules that produced results. You had annual projects, many of which would

roll from year to year.

Any other successes?

Developing the Livingston Road corridor with six lanes,

rather than four. This is the third north-south corridor that goes from Collier

County into Lee County—the others are U.S. 41 and I-75. The area desperately

needed some relief. We have completed the first segment of Livingston between

Radio Road and Golden Gate Parkway. The segment between Golden Gate and Pine

Ridge Road is currently under construction; and the other two segments, from

Pine Ridge north to Immokalee Road and then from Immokalee up to the county

line, are scheduled to be started this

fiscal year.

Also, another segment of Immokalee and a segment of

Goodlette-Frank Road are ready for construction. Those are major accomplishments

after four or five years of really no construction.

Southwest Florida’s phenomenal growth places a burden on

already clogged roadways. Will Collier ever catch up and be able to accommodate

the traffic?

I don’t think you ever catch up. We’re extremely behind the

growth curve.

In addition to trying to build those facilities for the

demand that’s already there or already approved, we’re in the process of

modifying our land development code and our growth management plan. This is not

to stop growth, but to make sure we can keep our infrastructure concurrent with

development. This way, we have a process both to address the shortfalls in the

past and also to look at the way we develop in the future. We’re updating our

impact fee ordinance right now. We’re looking at the way we have access

established to the arterial system and the development of a collector road

system. I have to note that we don’t have to worry about gridlock only because

we don’t have a grid.

There’s a lot we’re doing in regard to how we develop to

acknowledge that we’re not going to go beyond six lanes. As we start making

these improvements, we’re bringing a lot of our facilities to a six-lane

standard on the major arteries. We don’t want that traffic intrusive into the

neighborhoods. We want to be able to accommodate commercial and business

interests but do it in a way that doesn’t block the capacity of the arterial

system.

What are Collier’s most important projects?

The Livingston Road corridor is a significant project.

Another important corridor, where we’ve got almost 20 percent of that five-year

program invested, is Immokalee Road from U.S. 41 nearly all the way out to

Immokalee. We’ve got significant development and demand coming in from that

area.

Next are Golden Gate Parkway and the new I-75 interchange to

be placed in the Florida Department of Transportation Work Program in 2004.

That will significantly relieve the Pine Ridge Road and Immokalee Road

interchanges. We’re developing that with some control of access, making beautification

plans so it will truly be a gateway into Naples, Collier County and access to

the industrial area, the airport and Naples Harbor.

Do you subscribe to the devel-opers’ theory that development

pays for itself? You’ve got a $1.47 billion, 20-year plan before you.

We are increasing the impact fees, so we are looking for

development to pay for itself. But when the legal allowable impact fee was

established in 1992, it was set at 35 percent less than the actual cost of

service. And the fee was not updated for almost eight years although the costs

to deliver the service were continuing to go up. Development was not paying its

full share of the cost of the roadway infrastructure it was creating a demand

for.

In 2000, the impact fee process was reevaluated and set at

the highest limit. And we’re in the process of updating that every two years to

make sure cost and demand issues are both considered. I think there’s a strong

commitment by this board not only to do it every two years but to make sure the

fee is set at the full cost of the demand created by development.

Is there good news down the road? Will traffic congestion

ever be a thing of the past in Collier?

It depends on the definition of congestion. We’re working

with the Florida Department of Transportation on a computerized signal system.

We’ve got the first of two phases under way and the second phase coming out.

That’s very, very important as are the expanded lanes to get people around and

to reduce delay and congestion.

Will we ever be in a situation where there’s no congestion?

No. I think we’ll have significant improvement over where we stand today both

by the improvements and by growing a little smarter with the changes we’re

trying to promote to the way we develop. We’re not trying to discourage development

in the county, only trying to encourage good development.