07/17/2025
COMMUNITY ALERT / URGENT REMINDER FDOT MEETING TONIGHT RE: FDOT PROPOSED “TRAIL” THROUGH CITY
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025 – 5:30 – 6:30 PM CDT
CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, 15TH STREET
IF YOU WANT TO USE THE ONLINE OPTION, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER!!!!!
GO TO WWW.NWFLROADS.COM/CALENDAR
The meeting will be just 1 hour.
The meeting will be a bunch of charts/posters in the room, with FDOT employees or third-party subcontractors standing around to answer questions, if they know the answers.
The FDOT proposal is to replace our existing sidewalk with a 4-mile “trail” on the NORTH side of Hwy 98, plus a “trail” on 15th Street from Hwy 98 to CR386 on the SOUTH side of 15th Street.
Hwy 98:
• Our existing sidewalk is 3 miles long, from Canal Parkway to CR386, and is 5 feet wide.
• Our existing sidewalk project began in 2008 (17 years ago), with construction beginning in 2009.
• The original sidewalk plan (the current sidewalk) was to move BOTH pedestrians AND BICYCLISTS off of Hwy 98 and onto a safe path. It was NEVER an FDOT plan, but was part of the CITY'S master plan for Hwy 98, 15th Street and 7th Street. (NOTE: It is unknown if that 2008 city master plan still exists.)
• The sidewalk currently along 98 was proposed BY THE CITY to FDOT, and the design came FROM THE CITY, with citizens and Hwy 98 business owners very much involved, and accommodated all the businesses' entry/exits and parking areas, along with residential driveways. FDOT approved all the designs AND the location AND the shape of the sidewalk AND the gaps in the sidewalk to accommodate all the driveways along Hwy 98.
• The CITY paid for the Hwy 98 sidewalk, NOT FDOT, with $200,000 in impact fees, appropriated in the 2008-09 city budget for sidewalk construction. It was NOT an FDOT project, nor were FDOT/state funds used to pay for it.
• The sidewalk was constructed in phases. Phase 1 was from 15th Street west to the west end bridge. Phase 2 was from 7th Street east to CR386. Construction began on Phase 1 in 2009. All commercial construction along 98 before and after sidewalk construction was required to build the section of sidewalk in front of the construction during the construction phase.
• Even though many cities do not allow bicycles on sidewalks, the city of Mexico Beach, through a choice of the citizens, specifically designed the sidewalk for BOTH walkers and bicyclists. It was stated during the discussions on the project, and multiple times in the years thereafter, that the sidewalk was specifically for BOTH pedestrians AND BICYCLISTS, making it officially both a walking and bike path.
• The current sidewalk has been successful, in continuous use, and without complaint since construction in 2009. It is heavily enjoyed by both walkers and bikers, without interference with commercial parking lots and access.
• The city's plan did NOT involve motorized vehicles on any of the proposed sidewalks on 98, 15th and 7th. At that time, Ebikes were not a consideration, but golf carts were. The citizens chose to make the sidewalk 5 feet wide to keep golf carts off the sidewalk, AND FDOT APPROVED THE PLAN, AGREEING TO REDUCE THEIR CHOICE OF 10 FEET WIDTH TO 5 FEET.
• Everything proposed by the city was constructed on FDOT right of way, with FDOT approval of the design and all permits.
• The citizens required the sidewalk to be "curvy" instead of a straight concrete slab running 3 miles through town, keeping it as close to the road as possible. FDOT approved the design.
• The city already has 3 miles of sidewalk for pedestrians and bikers. The only section of the proposed FDOT path that does not currently exist is the additional one mile section beginning at Canal Parkway and running along the NORTH side of Hwy 98, along the St. Joe Company west end development, even with the entrance to the Farmdale development on the south side (Crooked Sound Drive).
• The ONLY entity to benefit from the FDOT trail would be the St. Joe Company, with the additional 1 mile new section running along their west end development.
Hwy 98 / FDOT proposed “trail:”
• Tear out our existing sidewalk and replace it with a 12-foot wide continuous slab of asphalt or concrete, running the 3 miles of Hwy 98 in original Mexico Beach, plus an additional mile along the St. Joe Company west end development from Canal Parkway to across from the Farmdale development entrance (Crooked Sound Drive).
• The trail will not accommodate the driveways along Hwy 98, and will not accommodate the parking lots that the city has enjoyed for more than 50 years with FDOT’s permission about parking on FDOT right of way. For more than 50 years, FDOT has allowed the City of Mexico Beach to use FDOT right of way on both sides of Hwy 98 for parking and parking lots for businesses. The City does not own any right of way along Hwy 98, including the 1 mile of dedicated public beach parking along the dedicated beach on the east end of town.
• The trail will create a 12 foot wide golf cart race track and street. The City does not have the resources to patrol the trail on a continuous basis to stop this.
• The trail will create a parking lot for vehicles. The City and all the citizens made it a condition of the city sidewalk to prohibit parking on the north side of Hwy 98 because vehicles during the summer block sight lines for the more than 40 side streets that empty into Hwy 98.
• The trail will create more than 2 times the amount of impervious surface all along Hwy 98 than the current sidewalk. The current sidewalk covers 79,200 feet of impervious surface (3 miles). The trail will cover 190,080 feet of impervious surface in ithose 3 miles, plus the additional 63,360 feet of impervious surface on the new 1 mile section. This will exponentially increase flooding along Hwy 98.
• The trail will cover almost all access to the City’s underground utility pipes, making it that much more difficult to repair broken water and sewer pipes. The current sidewalk is only 5 feet wide, and the City utilities are mostly located in the grassy areas.
• The trail will require much more maintenance and repair, especially when the City must dig up sections of the trail to reach underground pipes, then repair the trail afterward. The City will have to pay for it.
• The trail will require vehicles using private driveways and business entrances to cross the trail repeatedly, instead of having breaks in the trail like the current sidewalk does. This will cause the trail to crack and deteriorate at an exponentially higher rate than if just pedestrians and bicyclists were using it. The City will have to pay for it.
• The trail will have to bridge 2 canals – 8th Street and the big canal at Canal Parkway. How does FDOT propose to do that? FDOT will have to purchase multiple parcels to have enough land to create bridges.
FDOT Project Goals:
• Improve bicycle and pedestrian safety: The existing sidewalk provides all the necessary safety. Pedestrians and bicyclists are already off of Hwy 98.
• Enhance trail connectivity: What connectivity? There is no “trail” anywhere close to Mexico Beach. To the west, Tyndall Air Force Base would have to give its permission to allow a trail for civilians to wander through the entire base, unchecked, 24 hours a day. That’s not going to happen. Additionally, how would FDOT build a pedestrian bridge across East Bay, alongside the Dupont Bridge?
• There is no way to connect the trail to anything on the west side.
• On the east side, there is no trail to connect TO until you get to Panacea, about 60 miles away, where there is a 20 year old pork project trail. But nothing in between, and when, if ever, would those connecting sections be built all the way to Mexico Beach?
• There is nothing to connect the Mexico Beach trail section TO, so what, exactly, is the point? The only beneficiary of the proposed trail would be the St. Joe Company, for its west end development.
• Provide additional recreational benefits: What additional benefits? The City already provides walking and biking capability and benefits all along Hwy 98.
• Promote economic development: The trail would cause exactly the opposite. All the business parcels would have decreased access from Hwy 98, much of the existing parking lots would be eliminated, businesses (both current and future) would be destroyed. The current sidewalk was specifically designed to work with the business parcels entrances/exits, and to allow parking lots to remain intact. AND FDOT gave its approval back in 2008 for this.
• Number of Parcels Impacted: 13 – FALSE: there are approximately 160 parcels along the north side of Hwy 98, all of which would be affected by the trail, none of which are negatively affected by the current sidewalk.
• The trail would bring the public closer to houses, businesses, and condominiums, increasing noise.
15th Street:
Let’s be crystal clear: a sidewalk all along the length of 15th Street is an excellent idea – but not the way FDOT is proposing.
• The City already has 6 sections of sidewalk completed on the NORTH side of 15th Street, including a sidewalk from Hwy 98 to the curve, which will connect with the new pedestrian bridge.
• The City is about to begin construction of the pedestrian bridge over the canal at the curve on 15th Street on the NORTH side, a project that is already funded and designed.
• FDOT proposes to construct a trail on the SOUTH side of 15th Street, re-inventing the wheel, instead of proposing to complete the missing sections of sidewalk on the NORTH side. Why?
• The SOUTH side of 15th Street has 39 lots, with 24 driveways directly off of 15th Street that would be affected by the FDOT trail.
• The NORTH side of 15th Street has 6 sections of sidewalk already completed, with 22 additional driveways that would be affected with the completion of the sidewalk.
• The completion of the NORTH side sidewalk – at 5 feet wide/1 mile long – would add about 5,280 additional feet of impervious surface to 15th Street.
• The SOUTH side trail - at 12 feet wide/1 mile long - would add approximately 63,360 feet of impervious surface to 15th Street. 15th Street already has major flooding problems. How would the massive increase in impervious surface benefit the City and its citizens?
• If FDOT wants to add a sidewalk along 15th Street, why not simply complete the NORTH side?
SUMMARY:
The city’s existing sidewalk works perfectly and accommodates the city’s unique physical layout.
The city’s existing sidewalk already provides pedestrian and bicycle safety
The city’s existing sidewalk already offers all the recreational benefits the citizens need.
The city’s existing sidewalk already promotes economic development.
The city’s existing sidewalk does NOT promote trail connectivity because there is NOTHING TO CONNECT TO.
The city is already in the process of creating a sidewalk along 15th Street, including the most critical portion – the pedestrian bridge at the curve. Why leave that side unfinished and re-create everything on the opposite side of the street? If FDOT actually wanted to do something useful, why not COORDINATE WITH THE CITY AND COMPLETE THE 5 FOOT WIDE SIDEWALK ALONG THE NORTH SIDE?
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