Study Scope

The complexity of the issues and the number of strong interests in the outcome of SR 40 decisions led FDOT to conclude that the participation of a broad range of stakeholders would be needed to evaluate the feasibility of improvements to the corridor. The study will proceed in three phases. There will be an opportunity at the end of each phase to reassess whether subsequent phases should go forward.

Phase I – Preliminary Assessment
This phase involved interviews with a number of potential stakeholders to explore what issues, from their perspective, would need to be addressed in a collaborative process. The interviews also explored the willingness of groups to participate more directly in subsequent phases of the study. The Phase I report, explains the issues identified and makes recommendations regarding options that are available for subsequent phases. The results are in the Phase I document.

Phase II – Joint Identification of Issues and Strategy Development
This phase will involve stakeholders jointly developing a more detailed, common understanding of the issues and developing possible strategies to address them. The Collaborative Process includes a series of ongoing stakeholder working groups (Task Force and Technical Subcommittees), workshops, and public meetings. The process sponsors have signed a participatory Memorandum of Agreement (Phase II MOA) outlining their roles in the Collaborative Process. The objective of Phase II is to develop another Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in draft form that will outline the policy issues and a strategy that will be used for future project development. At the end of this phase there will be a decision-making juncture when the FDOT will review outcomes of Phase II and determine whether to proceed to Phase III and eventually pursue an EIS, or whether to end the process.

Phase III – Agreement Seeking
During this final study phase, stakeholders will explore whether any of the strategies identified in Phase II can be supported by all participants. Possible components may include final agreement seeking among participating stakeholders and review, refinement, and adoption of a final report outlining conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations will be based on discussions with and among the stakeholders and will reflect any agreement reached by them and the best professional judgment of the project team members.