Oct. 1 marked the beginning of Fiscal Year 2007 for Collier County government, and while your county staff continues to move forward with plans to build roads, operate water plants, and expand libraries, they also are visioning for the long-term future. In so doing, however, I feel it's also important to take note of where we've been and reflect on our most immediate past.
This has been truly an extraordinary and phenomenal year for county staff and me. Oct. 24 marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Wilma, which struck Collier County near the end of an already active hurricane season.
Hurricane Wilma made landfall south of Marco, ending our 45-year run of good fortune in avoiding these deadly storms. The community and county staff did a sterling job preparing for, reacting to and recovering from this terrible storm. The staff had the streets cleaned by Dec. 23, 2005, and collected more than 900,000 cubic yards of debris.
The cost of this unscheduled activity was $35 million. However through due diligence and great teamwork by staff and our contractors, all accounting and data gathering was processed and forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by May of this year, resulting in a final cost to the county of only $3.2 million. We had a successful audit by the Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security and we were the first county to receive full reimbursement from FEMA.
I cannot include all our achievements for FY 2006 due to space limitations here, but I will attempt to list for you those most visible to you, the citizens of Collier County, beginning with a successful capital construction program. Managing these projects to a timely completion, and on budget, continues to be a priority.
Road construction projects of interest include: Golden Gate Overpass – While the project has experienced setbacks with unstable soil in the canal bottom, as well as unsuitable soils under the structure undetected by prior borings, efforts have been taken by county staff to assist in controlling costs and promoting completion of the project. The updated schedule for opening to traffic is February 2007.
Goodlette-Frank Road (Golden Gate Parkway to Pine Ridge Road) – Construction to widen this 2 1/2-mile section from four to six lanes, which started in August 2005, is continuing through 2006 and scheduled to be completed in early 2007. The project will include a bypass road to go from westbound Golden Gate Parkway behind the bank on the northeast corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Golden Gate Parkway to northbound Goodlette-Frank Road. This fall crews plan to have completed and open to traffic three lanes northbound between Golden Gate Parkway and Clubhouse Drive. The new bypass road is also expected to be opened to traffic at the same time. Immokalee Road – Maintaining construction schedules for the three six-laning Immokalee Road projects from U.S. 41 to 43rd Street has been a critical component of our construction plan. The section from C.R. 951 to 43rd Street is on schedule with six-laning (four lanes open to traffic) from west of Wilson Boulevard to Oil Well completed in August 2006. Construction started in October on the section from east of I-75 to C.R. 951 with completion planned by Summer 2008. The project from U.S. 41 to I-75 experienced some delay in the first milestone (Livingston to I-75) because of utility conflicts. However, the first milestone area of I-75 to Livingston Road now has traffic flowing on three lanes eastbound and three lanes westbound with the Airport Road to Livingston section scheduled for completion in July 2007 and the whole project to U.S. 41 expected to be completed by September 2008.
Rattlesnake-Hammock Road (Polly Avenue to Collier Boulevard) – This two-mile widening project will expand the roadway from two lanes to six lanes. Construction began in January of this year and completion is expected in about two years.
Phase II Computerized Signal System & SCOOT Pine Ridge Road pilot – The Phase II improvements are completed and the SCOOT pilot on Pine Ridge Road is also complete. Pilot test showed a reduction in driver delay. Vanderbilt Beach Road (Airport-Pulling Road to Collier Boulevard) – This five-mile project will include six-laning the current two-lane roadway. Construction began in February 2005 and will continue through the first quarter of 2008.
As you can see, increasing our road capacity and providing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate our growing population remains a priority for county government. Next month, I will continue our review of county government's many successful achievements during 2006.
Hunting for pythons
Swamp Buggy Races
Irish Ayes at Marco St. Pat's parade
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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