Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Janelle Irwin TaylorDecember 19, 2018

The Federal Transit Administration awarded the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority $1.2 million through its Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning, the agency announced Wednesday. The grant will fund transit-oriented development planning along the proposed Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit route planned to connect downtown St. Petersburg to the Gulf Beaches along First Avenues North and […]

Scott PowersNovember 8, 2018

Brightline, the operator of the new South Florida private passenger train service with plans to extend to Orlando, has submitted the only proposal to Florida officials for a proposed new route from Orlando to Tampa. The Florida Department of Transportation announced late Wednesday that Brightline, which initiated the process by submitting an unsolicited proposal in […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 12, 2018

Lenny Curry is fond of tweeting: “Plan all the way to the end.” But at the end of 2016, when the Jacksonville mayor first pitched removal of the Hart Bridge offramps, some were confused as to what that plan was. Curry brought a poster board into the Duval delegation meeting, and said he wanted $50 […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 19, 2018

A transportation plan for the Tampa Bay area that would use bus rapid transit (BRT) and not rail to move riders from Wesley Chapel in Pasco County to downtown St. Petersburg was introduced to the public Friday. Called a “catalyst” project because of the hopes that it would jumpstart transit planning in the region, the […]

Jim RosicaOctober 26, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday told the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) “to work with other state agencies, Florida ports, law enforcement and fuel retailers to begin examining ways to increase fuel capacity during emergencies such as hurricanes,” according to a press release. The department’s report will be submitted next January and “will include recommendations […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 17, 2017

Last November, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry made an audacious ask of the Duval County Legislative Delegation: $50M to remove and replace the Hart Bridge offramps. “The ramps were originally designed to bypass the industrialized waterfront,” Curry said in 2016, a purpose outmoded in the half-century since the original construction. Curry’s ask: “To knock the [current] ramp […]

Mitch PerryOctober 10, 2017

Florida Department of Transportation officials call Tampa Bay Next a “process,” one in which more input from the public is always welcome. That attitude is impressing some of the agency’s critics, after what was widely perceived as a heavy-handed approach with the now-defunct Tampa Bay Express project, the multibillion-dollar proposal that most prominently included adding […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 30, 2017

Promises made, promises kept. In Feb. 2013, Gov. Rick Scott said there would be an eastbound JTB flyover ramp at I-95. 48 months and $78 million later, that project is in place — and is expected to abate traffic at one of the most challenged traffic corridors in Northeast Florida, starting with its Sept. 6 opening to […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMay 25, 2017

Sen. Rene Garcia is weighing in on a multi-million dollar bridge project planned for South Florida, telling the Florida Department of Transportation that the Miami-Dade community can’t wait any longer. In a letter to FDOT Secretary Rachel Cone this week, Garcia said he was confident the procurement process established by the state transportation agency “followed […]

Joe HendersonMay 23, 2017

Transportation issues in the Tampa Bay area have been well-documented and they will get worse before they get better — assuming, of course, “better” ever comes. The Florida Department of Transportation wanted to attack the problem with a plan called Tampa Bay Express, or TBX. I’ll simplify: It called for building more roads, including 90 […]

Tag: FDOT
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 4/18/25-Candles and remembrances are left near the Unconquered statue a few hours after the Florida State University Gathering of Unity Vigil held Friday to honor victims of the recent mass shooting. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

Central Avenue BRT nabs $1.2 million grant for transit-oriented development

Brightline submits only proposal for Orlando-Tampa train line

Talleyrand Connector money illustrates Lenny Curry’s long game

Rapid transit plan – Wesley Chapel to St. Pete – gets unveiled

Rick Scott wants more gas for Florida

Hart Bridge ‘design criteria project’ cleared for Jax Council vote

Residents, critics speak out on Tampa Bay Next ‘process’

Jacksonville I-95/JTB flyover ramp will save lives, cut commute times

Rene Garcia: ‘The people of Miami-Dade County … cannot wait any longer’ for signature bridge

Joe Henderson: FDOT’s Tampa Bay transit plan has new name, but really needs new ideas