§ 2.6. Current Transportation Planning Framework

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is the agency responsible for developing regulations, policies, and guidelines to achieve safety, access, economic development, and other goals relating to comprehensive transportation systems in the United States. The FHWA provides federal funds to states for transportation programs.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is the agency responsible for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the state highway system. The state highway system is established by Florida Statutes, and consists of all State and Federally designated roadways. The state has designated selected segments of the state highway system the Strategic Intermodal System (SIS). The SIS is made up of hubs (seaports, airports, bus terminals) and corridors (railways, waterways, and highways). In Santa Rosa County, I-10, SR 87 south of I-10, the CSX Railroad, and the Intracoastal Waterway are on the SIS. The FDOT has adopted the Florida Transportation Plan, which is part of the State Comprehensive Plan and guides major transportation planning for state facilities. Every year, the FDOT develops, with the cooperation of the TPOs, the Five-Year Work Program, which establishes priorities and funding for specific transportation improvement projects. Project priorities are established by the County Commission for improvements within the area outside of the urbanized area, generally north of Whiting Field. The Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) establishes priorities for roadway improvements within the urbanized area of the County (generally south of Whiting Field).

The western and eastern portions of south Santa Rosa County lie within two census-defined urbanized areas: the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach-Navarre-Wright census-defined urbanized areas. For ease of administration, all Santa Rosa County Commissioners are voting members of the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and the Navarre area is included in the planning area of the Florida-Alabama TPO. One Santa Rosa County Commissioner, representing Holley-Navarre, is a non-voting member of the Okaloosa-Walton TPO. The Northwest Florida Regional TPO was created in 2004 to coordinate plans of the Florida-Alabama and Okaloosa-Walton TPOs. The TPOs serve as the lead agencies for regional transportation planning. Much of the information in the Element was derived from TPO plans.

An interlocal agreement between the Cities of Pensacola, Milton and Gulf Breeze, Santa Rosa and Escambia County and FDOT formally established the Pensacola Urbanized Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) which became the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) in 2004. The responsibilities of the TPO, as outlined in Sec. 339.175(9)(a), F.S., include "responsibility for transportation related air, noise, and water quality planning within the urbanized area." Included in the responsibilities are the development of an annual transportation improvement program and a long-range transportation plan. TPO membership consists of the Santa Rosa County and Escambia County Commissions (five members each), one member of the Baldwin County, Alabama Commission, five Pensacola City Council members, a Councilman from the City of Orange Beach, Alabama, the General Manager of Escambia County Area Transit, one Gulf Breeze representative and one Milton representative. The TPO is staffed by the West Florida Regional Planning Council.

The key responsibility of the TPO is developing the Long Range Transportation Plan for the Region as well as associated Transportation Improvement Plans or Cost Feasible Plans. This chart ( Figure 2-1 ) shows the critical factors and inputs that guide the developments of these plans. Projects small and large follow the transportation planning process shown.

Figure 2-1: Development of the Long Range Transportation Plan

Source: "A Guide to Transportation Decision Making", US Department of Transportation (2015)