Unconventional alternatives considered for overpass

County Transportation Administrator Norman Feder delivered the message earlier this week to members of the county's Productivity Committee, who are asking questions to determine whether to recommend a proposed structure that would elevate Golden Gate Parkway over Airport-Pulling Road.

This is the first time the county has looked at an unconventional design for that intersection.

An unconventional design could have a variety of different circles and turns, unlike a typical intersection where traffic generally flows in a straight direction and the turns are to the right or left.

"You hear an awful lot most recently about nontraditional (intersection) designs," Feder told Productivity Committee members at a meeting Wednesday. "I will tell you that nontraditional designs are just that. They are very nontraditional, such that every time you ask for an example, you can find one internationally, and may find one application. But that's not a reason to scoff at it."

Feder said county transportation staff has been in contact with the global transportation engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff to discuss the unconventional designs that the firm thinks might be worth exploring. A traffic engineer at the company reviewed aerial photographs of the intersection.

Naples City Council members and overpass opponents would like this firm, or one with similar credentials, to be hired before the investment is made to build an overpass that they contend will simply move traffic more quickly to other intersections along Golden Gate Parkway and cause traffic snarls there.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has offered to do the study for about $85,000.

Feder told the Productivity Committee that a few of the unconventional designs he has studied may not work at handling the traffic at this particular intersection, but may be suitable for other intersections, such as Golden Gate Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard.

"We'll continue to look (at unconventional designs), but most of the nontraditionals are set at trying to take the turns out," he said. "But I don't want to sell them short."

He said these unconventional intersection designs traditionally work at intersections where there are predominantly turning movements. He said turn movements are not the primary problem at Golden Gate Parkway and Airport-Pulling Road. He said the high volume of through-traffic is, and overpasses traditionally are used to address this problem.

The Productivity Committee in recent months has been asking a wide range of questions about the overpass project. The county is not proposing to build an overpass at the intersection of Golden Gate Parkway and Livingston Road, but Productivity Committee members pointed out that estimates show the 2005 southbound traffic on Livingston will be 50 percent higher than the southbound traffic on Airport Road.

In response to questions about whether the overpass is being planned for the right intersection, Feder replied that the Golden Gate Parkway-Airport Road intersection has a lot more traffic movement in all directions than the intersection at Livingston.

The start date to construct an overpass project has been pushed back by six months as the county tries to answer additional questions posed by citizens about the project, Feder said.

Any more delays could potentially result in traffic snarls along Golden Gate Parkway during the construction process, he said.

"We have delayed this project already six months, acknowledging that delay much more could be very problematic," Feder said.

He said if the decision is to go forward with the project, and so far he does not see a reason not to, it would be nice to have the overpass work substantially complete before the Golden Gate Parkway interchange at Interstate 75 opens up. It's that interchange that will put thousands of additional cars on Golden Gate Parkway each day and is fueling the need for the overpass, county officials have said.

Work on the interchange is planned to begin in summer 2004 and be completed by 2006.

Feder said county staff is exploring all possible alternatives to building an overpass, including the possible construction of new Gordon River bridges that might decrease the need for the overpass.

He told the committee that building these bridges on the north and south end of Naples Municipal Airport could cost between $75 million and $100 million, and they would not be completed in time for the crush of traffic expected to be traveling Golden Gate Parkway when the new interchange opens.

Feder said contrary to comments that have been made by overpass opponents, there are no plans to build a string of overpasses in Collier County.

"My desire is not to develop grade separation throughout the county," he said.

Dex Groose, a Productivity Committee member, said Friday that he questions whether another overpass might have to be built at Golden Gate Parkway and Livingston Road if the one at Airport-Pulling Road is built.

"I don't think we'll be able to live with just one" overpass, he said. "If you are really going to serve that traffic coming off the interstate, the first major intersection is Livingston. It seems to me that sooner or later they are going to have to do something for that same traffic."

Groose said he supports the county spending $85,000 to hire Parsons Brinckerhoff to conduct the unconventional intersection design study, saying the amount is a nominal one compared to the tax money that would be spent on the overpass project itself.

"I just felt a lot of questions needed to be answered," he said.

Janet Vasey, also a Productivity Committee member, said Friday that she also would like more questions answered before she decides whether to recommend the overpass project. One critical question that still remains to be answered, she said, is exactly how long the traffic delays would be if the overpass were not built.

"For me, the sensitivity analysis makes a difference. Does the intersection fail by a little or a lot" without an overpass, she said.

She said this type of information could be acquired through computer modeling.

Feder said after the meeting Wednesday that county transportation staff has not yet determined whether Parsons Brinckerhoff will be hired, but the firm's proposals are being reviewed by county staff.

"It all depends whether there is something in there that seems to hold promise," he said.

He said county staff will probably be meeting with Naples city officials about the overpass in late November or early December.

"We needed to go back and see if there are other concepts we need to evaluate before we finalize the studies," he said.