TPO Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)

Polk County Administration Building 330 West Church Street Bartow, FL 33830 Polk County TPO Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting Minutes - Final January 23, 2025 TPO TAC Polk County Administration Building 330 W. Church Street, Room 413 Bartow, FL 33830 Introduction 1. Call to Order - 9:30 a.m. (Bob Weigers, Chairman) Minutes: Chairman Bob Wiegers called the TAC Meeting to order at 9:30 am. 2. Confirmation of Quorum Minutes: Roll call was taken, and a quorum was confirmed by Angela Kaufman, Polk TPO Staff. Also in attendance were: Members Present: Representing: James Philips City of Lakeland Chuck Barmby City of Lakeland Tess Schwartz, Vice-Chair City of Lakeland Sean Byers City of Winter Haven Julie Womble City of Auburndale Bob Wiegers, Chair City of Bartow Ted Adkins City of Haines City Stefanie von Pelaski-Bush City of Frostproof Jeffrey Ball Town of Lake Hamilton Richard Ranck Central Florida Regional Planning Council Jay Jarvis Polk County Roads & Drainage Ben Ziskal Polk County Planning Carlie Flagler Citrus Connection Lorraine Peterson Town of Dundee Others Present: Representing: Ryan Kordek TPO Executive Director Julia Davis Polk TPO Staff Page 1 of 6 Angela Kaufman Polk TPO Staff Lorenzo Thomas Polk TPO Staff Isai Chavez Polk TPO Staff Cindy Mitchell Polk TPO Staff Edith Perez FDOT Jared Jones VHB Babuji Ambikapath VHB Sue Zajae Citrus Connection Vita Siguri FDOT Sharon Boozer Garrett Polk County Resident Vince Dyer Bike/Walk Central Florida Charlene Ross FDOT Katina Kavoulls FDOT - Turnpike Henry Pinton FDOT - Turnpike Steven Mikesell TranSystems Tyler Williams City of Winter Haven Nathan Silva RS&H Joel Dominguez City of Lakeland Wade Carroll Pond & Company Lori Cox Foresite 3. Approval of Meeting Minutes Minutes: Motion to approve the December 5, 2024, meeting minutes. Motion was made by Carlie Flagler, seconded by Ben Ziskal. Motion carried without dissent. 4. Agenda Review Minutes: Ryan Kordek, TPO Administrator, gave an overview of the TAC agenda. Action items included Safety Performance Targets Resolution 2025-01, Momentum 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) amendments, and FY 2024/25-2028/29 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) amendments. Presentations and Status Reports included SunRail Extension PD&E Study, CPP East Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) from SR 60 to US 17/92, December TPO Board Safety discussion, Safe Streets for All (SS4A) project status. Immediately following the TAC, meeting there will be a NE Corridor Forum hosted by Vitor Suguri of FDOT. Action Items 5. Election of Officers Minutes: The annual election of officers occurred with Bob Wiegers asking approval to remain Chair through the remainder of the meeting due to an agreement made with a member of public who came to speak at today’s meeting. Motion for Chair: Chuck Barmby nominated Tess Schwartz for Chair. This was Page 2 of 6 seconded by Ben Ziskal. The nomination was approved unanimously. Motion for Vice-Chair: Tess Schwartz nominated Carlie Flagler for Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Ben Ziskal. The nomination was approved unanimously. 6. Review/Approve Draft TPO Resolution 2025-01 Adopting FDOT Safety Performance Targets for the Polk TPO Minutes: Isai Chavez, Polk TPO Staff, provided a presentation explaining TPO Resolution 2025-01 which is for the adaptation of the Safety Performance Targets for the Polk TPO. After the vote, a Best Foot Forward Presentation was presented. Best Foot Forward Presentation Vince Dyer of Bike/Walk Central Florida provided a presentation explaining the program and how it can benefit the local municipalities improving crosswalks and intersections for pedestrians. Members of the committee asked questions of Mr. Dyer including hybrid crossing beacons, data analysis, and how Best Foot Forward is organized. Mr. Dyer provided explanations which included the data and statistics provided Motion made by Julie Womble, seconded by Tess Schwartz. Motion carried unanimously. 7. Amendments to the Momentum 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Minutes: Ryan Kordek, Polk TPO Staff, provided a presentation on the proposed amendments to the Long-Range Transportation Plan, Momentum 2045. These amendments are for projects of the I-4 Moving Florida Forward initiative. There was a question about the duration of the project. Ryan Kordek stated he was not aware of the duration of the project and Chuck Barmby stated that there should be expanded mass transit options during the construction to relieve transportation needs. James Philips asked if the future express lanes allow for the addition of high speed rail. Ryan Kordek stated that there has been space set aside for high speed rail in the center of these lanes. A motion was made by Richard Ranck and seconded by Carlie Flagler. Motion was approved unanimously. 8. Review/Approve Draft Amendments to FY 2024/25 - 2028/29 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Minutes: Angela Kaufman, Polk TPO Staff, provided a presentation of the proposed amendments to the FY 2024/25 - 2028/29 TIP. These included the North Lake Fitness Trail, Capital for Alliance for Independence, and the I-4 Moving Florida Forward initiative providing an amendment for project 201210-8 and modifying project 431456-6. Page 3 of 6 A motion was made by Jay Jarvis and seconded by James Philips. Motion was approved unanimously. Presentations and Status Reports 9. SunRail Extension Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) Study Minutes: Charlene Ross, FDOT Intermodal Manager provided a presentation and an update of the PD&E Study for SunRail Extension. The presentation included options for station locations and there was a recommendation for the station locations at Davenport, Haines City, and Loughman. Jeffrey Ball asked if the current PD&E include Haines City or does it stop at Loughman and asked to be included in future conversations with this study. Charlene Ross stated that it would include Haines City and made note to include Jeffrey Ball. James Philips asked about the operation plan for weekend service, not just weekday service. Charlene Ross stated that it probably would not. Jay Jarvis spoke about the current infrastructure outside of the station was being considered such as local road access to the station. Charlene Ross stated road access was being considered. Jay Jarvis asked about contacting Loughman representatives of this community and if they were being included in this consideration. Charlene Ross stated she was not certain if they were. Jay Jarvis stated a person by the name of Hercules would be the contact and he would provide a number. Carlie Flagler asked if they would keep Citrus Connection involved with the project. Chuck Barmby asked if they were a way to establish a baseline during the PD&E to help take pressure off the interstate to see or confirm will verify the need for increased service from Amtrak. Charlene stated the increased service was not being considered. Richard Ranck asked about ridership numbers. Charlene Ross stated that ridership has been going up since COVID-19 and expects ridership to continue to increase. Bob Wiegers asked when the next update would occur. Charlene Ross stated they would continue to provide updates periodically. 10. Central Polk Parkway East Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) from State Road 60 to US 17/92 Minutes: Jazelyn Haywood of FDOT provided a presentation of the Central Polk Parkway East Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) for the section from State Road 60 to US 17/92. There are four different corridors being evaluation (A, B, C, and D). The final corridor selection might include portions of each corridor and will be dependent on final evaluation, funding, and current development in the area. There will be opportunities for public feedback at public meetings. There was an explanation of the timeline and a summary of feedback that was received at the public meeting earlier this month. Richard Ranck asked if US 27 was considered as an alternative. Jazlyn Heywood stated that it had been, but it was not a feasible route. Chuck Barmby asked if in the northern section of the PD&E area was cross-referenced with the CSX railroad. Jazlyn Heywood stated that they did not intend to impact the rail line. Sean Byers noted the 400 foot width of the proposed lanes and asked it could be reduced. Jazlyn Heywood that this will be part of the PD&E. A member of the public, Sharon Garrett, was allowed to speak at this meeting by the Chair. She stated that she was previously involved with the previous public meetings in 2009. She stated her and her family’s properties will be directly impacted by corridors being considered but felt that Corridor D would be the least impactful. She offered various options and pointed out that many Page 4 of 6 of the roads this would connect with would be too small to carry the traffic. Her concern is that these existing roads will need to be improved, as well. Communications and Reports 11. TPO Board Safety Discussion Minutes: Ryan Kordek, Polk TPO Staff, provided a summarization of the Safety Discussion that was held at the December TPO Board meeting highlighting the statistics of student injuries and school bus signal arm recordings and the results of warnings and citations given to drivers that were not complying to the law. 12. Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Project Status Minutes: Julia Davis, Polk TPO Staff, provided a summarization of the status for the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) project. 13. Committee Member Comments Minutes: - Jeffrey Ball stated that Mr. Leonard will be retiring. - Richard Ranck asked if the RND would be available online. Ryan Kordek stated we will email it to those who request it as we get the document ADA compliant before it is published to our website. - Chair Bob Wiegers stated he was thankful for his time to be this committee’s chair. 14. Adjournment - Next TAC Meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2025. Minutes: The meeting adjourned at 11:23 a.m. The next TAC Meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2025. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with disabilities needing special accommodations to participate in this proceeding should contact the Board of County Commissioners, Communications Office, at 330 W. Church Street, Bartow. Telephone (863) 534-6090, not later than four days prior to the proceeding. If hearing impaired call: (TDD) (863) 534-7777 or 1-800-955-8771, or Voice impaired call: 1-800-955-8770, via Florida Relay Service. The TPO planning process is conducted in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Related Statutes. Any person or beneficiary who believes they have been discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or family status may file a complaint with the TPO’s Title VI Specialist at (863) 534-6486, or by writing Ms. Julia Davis at Post Office Box 9005, Bartow, Florida 33831-9005. Page 5 of 6 Page 6 of 6