LaBelle State Road 29 Plan Comments Wanted

State Soliciting New Bridge And Roadway Comments Until November 16

LABELLE, FL. -- The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) conducted an alternatives public workshop for the new S.R. 29 Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study on November 5, 2009 at the LaBelle Civic Center, 481 Highway 80 West, LaBelle, Florida.

The workshop was a 2-hour open house and presented a continuously running video that provided an overview of the proposed improvements to S.R. 29 including three options for four-laning the roadway from Cowboy Way (Alternate SR80) north to U.S. Highway 27in Glades county.

The first option is to widen the existing SR29 through the city of LaBelle. The second option routes SR29 east to Forrey Drive (formerly City Ditch Rd.) and then north over the river with a new bridge and roadway to connect with the current SR29 in Glades county.

The third option is to route SR29 more eastwardly to Birchwood Drive, splitting Port LaBelle in two, and a bridge running over the Port LaBelle Marina area across the Caloosahatchee River and the roadway connecting to SR29 in Glades county.

No funding is allocated currently in the state's 5-year plan and an option to not build a new roadway, but to maintain the current SR29 roadway, is still open.

The graphic materials presented at the workshop as well as the video have been uploaded to the state DOT web page. Click on the link below to view the video, project handout and the graphics that were on display at the workshop.

Your comments are very important to help the state make final decisions on which route if any will be chosen for a new highway and bridge route. Please review the alternatives shown and tell the FDOT which alternative(s) you like, or don't like and why. You may send your comments via the Comments page on the web site by November 16, 2009 so that they can be considered in the selection of the alternative(s) that will be carried forward in the PD&E study.

http://sr29labelle.com/alternatives-workshop.html  - SR29 Road and New Bridge Workshop Video and Plans