The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC)) in Florida is leading a Regional Land Use Study in Martin and St. Lucie Counties to evaluate vacant and redevelopable land for changes in future land use policies to help produce a more balanced transportation system. The $350,000 study is the first regional planning effort of its kind to undertake an evaluation of alternative land use and transportation scenarios to avoid building major interchanges along a heavily-traveled stretch of US Highway 1. Study partners include the two counties, the cities of Stuart, Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Department of Community Affairs, with the TCRPC as the coordinating agency.

A portion of the study is funded through the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation & Community & System Preservation (TCSP) program. This phase of the project focuses on implementation and entails completion of a demonstration project for a specific site within the study area.

Land use and development patterns in the two-county, 180 square mile study area result in a large number of long cross-county trips, particularly in the peak hours, causing FDOT to recommend 6- and 8-lane sections with grade-separated interchanges along portions of US 1. The Regional Land Use Study seeks to provide a quantitative assessment of how alternative development patterns can create a more balanced transportation system with improved travel choices.

Major study tasks include the following:

Phase I of the study (including development of a recommended regional land use/transportation plan) was completed in October 2001 and endorsed by the major local governments in the area. Phase II, focusing on implementation of the recommendations, was initiated in February 2002 and will be completed in November 2002.

Author and Copyright Information

Copyright 2002 by author

Whit Blanton is vice president and founding principal in the Renaissance Planning Group, a transportation and land use planning firm based in Orlando, Florida. He holds a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Florida, and completed his graduate coursework in urban and regional planning at Florida State University. His nearly 15 years of
experience involves a wide variety of transportation planning, land use planning and public participation projects for public sector clients at all levels of government. His experience includes special area plans, long-range transportation plans, transit operations plans and market research, corridor studies, public involvement, developing course materials and training, bicycle and pedestrian plans, local government comprehensive plans, impact fees and development review.

Since April 2000 he has served as national chair of the American Planning Association‚s Transportation Planning Division, and is currently chair of APA‚s TEA-21 Reauthorization Task Force. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Whit Blanton, AICP
Chair, APA Transportation Planning Division
www.apa-tpd.org
c/o Renaissance Planning Group
3165 McCrory Place, Suite 185
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 893-8175, ext. 13
www.citiesthatwork.com