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The Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study will evaluate
build alternatives that will allow Florida's Department of
Transportation (FDOT) to re-designate the portion of State Road (SR)
24 from Archer Road between the intersections with SW 16th Avenue
(SR 226) and SW 13th Street (SR 25/US 441) to SW 16th Avenue (SR
226) between its intersections with Archer Road and SW 13th Street
and then along SW 13th Street to the intersection with Archer Road.
Over the last 20 years, Archer Road, from SW 16th Avenue to SW 13th
Street, has changed dramatically with the introduction of expansive
medical facilities and parking garages supporting these facilities.
With this growth, pedestrian traffic has increased significantly.
Safety associated with pedestrian movement has become a major
concern. The City of Gainesville, in connection with the University
of Florida and other stakeholders in the area, recognized the need
to address this issue by re-designating this portion of Archer Road
as a campus road, therefore giving the University greater
flexibility on the future design of the area. This would in turn
involve re-routing the through traffic that desires to stay on SR 24
over to SW 16th Ave in this area (removing the State Road
designation of SR 24 from Archer Road and transferring it to SW 16th
Avenue).
The alternatives developed
as a part of this study will include design concepts for the
modification of Archer Road to address the issues of safety,
pedestrian access, accessibility and traffic congestion to provide a
multimodal facility primarily serving the Health Science Campus as
well as the University of Florida. As part of this study the
improvements to the intersections of Archer Road and SW 16th Avenue
and Archer Road and SW 13th Street will be considered. Alternatives
will also consider modifications to SW 16th Avenue (including any
intersections along these roadways) that may be required to maintain
an acceptable level of service. The extension of Gale Lemerand Drive
to SW 16th Avenue, as well as other potential north-south
connections between SW 16th Avenue and Archer Road, will also be
evaluated. The "no-build" alternative will also be evaluated. The
limits of the PD&E study extend from just west of the Archer Road
and SW 16th Avenue intersection to and including the intersections
with SW 13th Street along both Archer Road and SW 16th Avenue. The
limits of the traffic analysis are defined as the area between the
intersections of Archer Road and SW 34th Street to the west, and SW
16th Avenue and Williston Road/SR 331 to the east.
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