FAMU Way Extension: Project Introduction
The FAMU Way Extension project is meant to enhance transportation and serve as a major community investment in the southern side of the city, particularly in the vicinity of Florida A&M University. Work so far has focused on evaluating engineering, planning and environmental issues, with citizen input to:
- create one of the most attractive roadways in Tallahassee, providing new benefits and recreational opportunities for the community;
- identify potential improvements along the existing roadway;
- document proposed impacts along the corridor; and
- select a preferred alignment connecting FAMU Way (from its current end at Wahnish Way) to Lake Bradford Road.
CURRENT STATUS: The project is now in the public input phase. An update on the project will be presented to the City Commission at its Feb. 24 meeting. You can view the agenda item here. A timeline of the City's continuing outreach efforts is available with the agenda or by clicking here (15KB PDF).
To help garner public feedback on the project, alternate routes and design options, the City hosted the FAMU Way Community Breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Walker-Ford Community Center. Approximately 300 people attended the breakfast, coming out for this important informational breakfast despite freezing temperatures outside. The City would like to thank all those who attended and provided feedback. Citizen input is vital to make this project an amenity for the community.
Update, February 18, 2010: See the results of a survey of Community Breakfast attendees, including all written feedback, here (103KB PDF). Want to learn more about the Community Breakfast itself, including photos and other details? Please visit this page.
In fact, the city has been involving citizens from the start. The first citizen meetings were held in 2008 to get feedback on the five options being shared at that time.
Currently, the public is providing feedback on the route alternative (an updated version of route 3B) that was deemed the best suited to meet the neighborhood’s needs based on the citizen and stakeholder feedback from 2008. The public is also providing feedback now on the preferred treatment of the St. Augustine Branch (canal), the overall concept of the road and associated improvements.
Due to the tremendous interest in this project, the City has decided to continue the public input phase. Over the next two months, the City will be setting up meetings with local social and service groups as well as neighborhood associations.
Based on feedback from citizens at the community breakfast, the City has also decided to host a public forum after the completion of the small group meetings. The forum will include a formal presentation, and the public will have the opportunity to directly address the City. The date/time/location of the public forum has not been set yet.
For more information about the January 9 Community Breakfast, please see:
- Questions and answers (76KB PDF)
- Overview booklet (1.7MB PDF)
The current concept is for a two-lane road to include a bicycle/pedestrian path, sidewalks, on-street parking and other amenities such as a linear park, stormwater runoff controls and coordination with the Blueprint 2000 Capital Cascade Trail network. Six detailed maps of this concept can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding portion of the map in the image below. These detailed views (all PDFs, ranging in size from 1.1MB to 2.0MB) show the entire proposed route, east to South Monroe Street:
These six sections overlap slightly at some points. From left to right (west to east), the sections of the proposed route are, roughly:
- Section 1 (westernmost end): a little east of the Jackson Bluff Road/Eppes Street intersection, east to just beyond the current McDonald's restaurant at the Jackson Bluff/Lake Bradford Road intersection
- Section 2: Lake Bradford Road to Stearns Street
- Section 3: Stearns Street to Pinellas Street
- Section 4: Conklin Street to east of Wahnish Way/Railroad Avenue
- Section 5: easternmost point of Section 4 to Bronough Street
- Section 6: Bronough Street to east of S. Monroe Street (easternmost end)
Currently, the proposed route runs directly south of the St. Augustine Branch, the small waterway that runs through the canal just north of the existing portion of FAMU Way, south of Railroad Square and along the north edge of the neighborhood. The proposed route connects on the west to Lake Bradford Road (at approximately the intersection of Lake Bradford Road and Jackson Bluff Road) and ties into the eastern end of the current FAMU Way, which extends on to South Adams Street.
The actual design of the road would take 18 months and cannot begin until such time as the City Commission approves the project concept. Staff anticipates taking route and conceptual design recommendations to the City Commission in February.
The cost for the entire project is estimated at $50 million. Staff will be recommending that the project be done in phases. Funding is currently available for the portion from Lake Bradford Road to the eastern edge of the FAMU Campus (approximately Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard -- in the detailed section maps, this is Sections 1 through 4, and half of Section 5). This phase is expected to cost approximately $25 million. Blueprint 2000 will be funding the linear park, which is not included in these figures.
Gamble Street Extension
In addition to the FAMU Way Extension proper, the City is proposing to extend the current Gamble Street (just south of the CSX railway bridge, off Lake Bradford Road) to join up with FAMU Way. Three additional sectional maps detail the route of this proposed extension:
- Section 7: westernmost end, from Lake Bradford Road to Mill Street
- Section 8: Stearns Street to just west of Cleveland Street
- Section 9: just west of Cleveland Street to just east of Conklin Street (from this point, the Gamble Street Extension intersects the main route in Section 4, above)
Profile Options
The City, in conjunction with Blueprint 2000, is considering three designs for the linear park located adjacent to the north side of the roadway in the section of the proposed extension between Wahnish Way and the CSX railroad tracks. Each option provides a different treatment of the St. Augustine Branch (ditch). The options are detailed below and include photos of similar designs in other locations.
(Note: for full-size versions of the schematic views, click on the corresponding image.)
Brook and Trail
This design option includes a shallow stream that carries the base flow of the St. Augustine branch alongside a multi-use trail. The design also includes on-street parking on both sides of the road, two on-street bike lanes and wide sidewalks. A culvert under the multi-use trail provides flood control.
Typical designs elsewhere:
 |
 |
Trail Only
This design option places both the base flow of the St. Augustine branch and the flood control inside a culvert under a multi-use trail. The design also includes on-street parking on both sides of the road, two on-street bike lanes and wide sidewalks. This option requires the least amount of space.
Typical designs elsewhere:
 |
 |
Deep Canal
This option places both the base flow of the St. Augustine branch and the flood control in a wide and deep canal with sloped sides. The design also includes a combined sidewalk/multi-use trail on the north side of the street, on-street parking on both sides of the road, two on-street bike lanes and a sidewalk on the south side of the street. This option requires the largest amount of space.
Typical designs elsewhere:
 |
 |
Project History
please see the CURRENT STATUS section, above.
The City of Tallahassee began by conducting a Preliminary Engineering Study for the FAMU Way corridor. The project, approximately 1.3 miles in length, would create a new east-west roadway between the current end of FAMU Way at Wahnish Way, and Lake Bradford Road. The project also includes a study of the existing FAMU Way corridor between Wahnish Way and South Monroe Street.
(Note: The drawings and map linked below are quite large PDF files. If you have a slow Internet connection, please allow time for them to be downloaded. The maps are also large -- 11"x17". Small print, such as street names, may therefore be difficult to read at smaller paper sizes.)
A proposed roadway cross-section was selected to enhance traffic flow, encourage multi-modal uses (bicycles, pedestrians, mass transit), minimize social, economic and environmental impacts, and provide safety for both motorized and non-motorized uses. [Drawing of the proposed cross-section (PDF)] Additionally, the City has maintained close coordination with Blueprint 2000 as they develop Segment 3 of the Capital Cascades Trail within the limits of the project area.
During the study, eight (8) potential corridors were identified. Each of the corridors would take advantage of existing public property, provide multimodal connections to existing and proposed development, and serve as a linkage for traffic passing through the project area. Criteria for comparing the alternatives were evaluated jointly among numerous project stakeholders, including:
- Florida A&M University (FAMU);
- Florida State University (FSU);
- Blueprint 2000;
- City of Tallahassee Utilities;
- Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
- City of Tallahassee Public Works, Property Management (formerly Real Estate), Economic and Community Development, and Growth Management departments
The criteria included potential impacts on neighborhoods, environmental impacts, traffic impacts, construction costs, right-of-way costs and accommodation of proposed development as well as consistency with the adopted master plans for both universities.
Three viable alternatives resulted from stakeholder evaluations. The alternatives were shared with the public at two public meetings in the neighborhood in 2008 to get community feedback. All three alternatives or variations thereof parallel the St. Augustine Street Branch drainage facility from the terminus of existing FAMU Way (at Wahnish Way) until they reach the CSX Railroad. From there:
- Alternate One proceeds to Lake Bradford Road progressing north of the Lake Elberta Stormwater Facility. [Map of Alternate One (1.3MB PDF)] A sub-corridor of Alternate One was identified to provide an alternative connection to Lake Bradford Road. [Map of Alternate One, sub-corridor (1.3MB PDF)]
- Alternate Two turns south and eventually utilizes the Gamble Street corridor to arrive at Lake Bradford Road. [Map of Alternate Two (932KB PDF)]
- Alternate Three is the northern most alignment and connects to Lake Bradford Road at Jackson Bluff Road. [Map of Alternate Three (1.3MB PDF)] A sub-corridor of Alternate Three utilizes the existing Eugenia Street alignment in lieu of paralleling the St. Augustine Branch. [Map of Alternate Three, sub-corridor (1.2MB PDF)]
- Additionally, an optional eastern portion of the FAMU Way Extension has been proposed, which can be used with any of the above corridors with minor modifications. Regardless of the main alternate, this portion would extend for several blocks east and west of South Adams Street. [Map of optional eastern portion (792KB PDF)]
- Also available here is a single map showing all three options at once (except for the +optional eastern extension), color-coded for clarity. Note that this map refers to the above alternates as "Concepts" 1, 1A, 2, 3A, and 3B, respectively. [Combined map of Alternates One through Three (1.2MB PDF)]
These alternatives were carried forward into the Preliminary Design Analysis phase. No significant environmental, engineering or economic impacts were identified for any of the alternatives.