Welcome to the Central Polk Parkway PD&E Study Website!
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District One is conducting a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study of the proposed Central Polk Parkway in Polk County, Florida. The Central Polk Parkway would serve as a vital link in Polk County's future transportation system. The west leg of the study area will connect State Road (S.R.) 60 east of Bartow to the Polk Parkway near S.R. 540 between Lakeland and Winter Haven. The east leg will connect S.R. 60 east of Bartow to Interstate 4 in northeast Polk County.
Early in the study process, FDOT collected engineering and environmental data and developed a Draft Purpose and Need (P&N) Report for the proposed project. We presented the P&N at public workshops held in March 2009. Identification of 29 preliminary corridors followed. FDOT presented the corridors at a second series of public workshops held in December 2009.
The study team refined the preliminary corridors and is evaluating them based on several factors to determine the corridors that are viable for further study. The viable corridors will be presented for public comments at workshops tentatively scheduled for late summer 2010.
Public involvement is an ongoing and important part of the PD&E Study. FDOT held a series of meetings in spring of 2010 with representatives of several cities in Polk County, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, Clear Springs Land Company, CSX Railroad, the Polk Transportation Planning Organization, Polk County Planning and the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, to advise them of the status of the PD&E Study and receive input on local perspectives regarding the study. In addition, the study team gave a presentation in March 2010 to a group of residents of the Gordonville community and provided project information at the Eloise Community Day in April 2010.
Following the late summer public workshops, specific alignments within each corridor and conceptual designs will be developed and analyzed. Impacts to the natural, social and physical environments will be evaluated. Build alternatives and the no build alternative will be presented to the public and government officials at information workshops tentatively scheduled for late 2010. Finally, a preferred alternative or alternatives will be selected and presented at formal public hearings in early 2011.
Approval of the study documentation is expected in the spring of 2011. Currently there is no funding identified for future phases of this project.
