The bridge on Southwest 20th Avenue over I-75 in Gainesville is currently a two-lane road with unprotected bike lanes, but a $1.4 million grant may add sidewalks to enhance safety for all.
Alachua County’s transportation planning manager Alison Moss described concerns about the existing bridge.
“It is a sort of pinch point for motor vehicle traffic as there are more lanes on the west side of the bridge, and it’s also a safety concern considering there’s no traffic separated facility, like a sidewalk. And there are a lot of people dependent on walking and taking transit that live in the southwest community,” Moss said.
The Southwest Advocacy Group, known as SWAG, is a nonprofit organization that serves neighborhoods in southwest Gainesville — where the bridge is located – with the neighborhoods west of I-75 historically being underserved. Many residents rely on walking, biking and buses to travel, not cars. Pedestrians frequently walk along the bridge’s shoulder and bike lanes, even though there is no sidewalk.
The RAISE Grant, which stands for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, provides money for transportation infrastructure projects that will have local or regional impact, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. This program has given over $15 billion as of June. Alachua County and USDOT are working on the grant agreement to allow the $1.4 million be used to demolish the existing bridge and rebuild it as a complete street.
“Complete Streets are streets designed and operated to enable safe use and support mobility for all users. Those include people of all ages and abilities, regardless of whether they are travelling as drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, or public transportation riders,” according to USDOT.
Moss said the planning and design of the new bridge project will take about two and a half years with demolition and construction not starting for at least three years.
Adding sidewalks and safer bike lanes would be part of the complete street design of the bridge. The new bridge design will also allow the Florida Department of Transportation to add lanes to I-75, which runs underneath the bridge, if they choose to in the future.
The changes made possible by the RAISE Grant will greatly improve safety for residents in the SWAG community. It will also increase affordable transportation options and decrease dependence on cars, according to USDOT.
There is currently a push for safety in Alachua County. On Nov. 13, the county held a community workshop to introduce the Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. The bridge project will be looped in with these plans.
“They’re all moving on slightly different timelines, but we’ll make sure that they’re informing one another,” Moss said.
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