Nearly 4000 Lee County residents will get surveys in the mail this week asking for their input on the most important transportation improvement needs. The Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, will update its priorities for the state and federal funding of road constructions projects this August. The MPO’s Deputy Director, Ron Gogoi, says the agency takes the survey input seriously.
“For example like six laning of I-75, people are aware that they are doing something about it. And they have also seen construction taking place on the roadways. The projects and the improvements that we have identified are projects which have not been funded at all. And we give them a choice, which one do you think is the most crucial – identify the first three.”
He cites the state road 739 extension – bringing Metro Parkway from Six Mile Cypress Parkway to U.S. 41 – which was initially funded and later dropped. Gogoi says many people might list that project as crucial because of the need for another north-south route in Lee County.
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Nearly four thousand road surveys were mailed Monday to households in Lee County. The Metropolitan Planning Organization asks people to fill them out promptly and send them back. The agency updates its priority list of road construction each August. Each summer it asks a sampling of residents what projects they’d like to see completed first. The plans come in four stages – major capitol improvements such as road widening and extensions, sidewalk projects, congestion management and public transportation. Ron Gogoi is the MPO’s deputy director.
“We have identified some projects for each of these categories of funding and we are asking the residents of Lee County to identify the first three projects which they think are needed very badly. And then maybe identify two projects to relieve congestion and say another two projects to identify bike, pedestrian projects.”
Complete questionnaires must be returned to the agency by no later than Friday June 30th. Gogoi says typically 13 percent of those surveyed actually respond. Results will be presented to the planning organization in mid-August.