The purpose of this agenda item is to follow up on the City Council work session of January 19, 2021 and facilitate a discussion and decisions related to the planning, designing and constructing of a pedestrian/bicycle overpass on US 19 at Marine Parkway.

In 2016, a Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study was conducted by Kimley-Horn and Associates. The conclusion of the study was that a prefabricated steel truss bridge was recommended with a probable cost of $3 Million.  This cost estimate included construction, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation and construction of a 10' sidewalk.  The location studied was the north side of the intersection.  An illustration of this preliminary design is included in your packet.  The existing trail on US Hwy 19 would cross Marine Parkway on the west side of US 19 to reach the overpass, and then cross Marine Parkway again, on the east side of US 19, to reach the existing trail on Marine Parkway.

The project described above is currently ranked number 9 on the “Pasco County MPO Transportation Improvement Program 2020 List of Priority Projects.”  An updated estimate of probably construction costs conducted in June of 2020 established the project cost at $5.2 Million.  The estimate though does not include the costs associated with design, engineering, utility relocation or property acquisition. 

At the work session on January 19, 2021, the City Council expressed an interest in the bridge project and indicated that the structure would be for bicycle and pedestrian use only.  As I am sure you will recall, staff recommended the consideration of a location of the bridge to the south of the intersection of Marine Parkway and US 19 as this would allow for connecting the trail segment to the south on US 19 and on Marine Parkway without crossing Marine Parkway. This recommendation took into consideration the newly constructed automobile lube shop on the NE corner of the intersection.  The next step was determined to be to design the bridge to establish the actual amount and location of land needed, cost of construction, etc. 

In seeking data for a grant application related to this project, staff reached out to the Pasco County MPO for assistance.  In an e-mail dated April 5, 2021, included in your packet, Tania Gorman, Principle Transportation Planner for the Pasco County MPO, compared our project to the Harn Overpass in Clearwater, which she states is a similar project crossing US19.  The original estimate for that project was $5.3M but the lowest bid came in at $7.9M.  She then asserted that our estimate of approximately $6M is too low and that in her estimation our project will likely cost between $9M and $10M. The only way to determine the actual cost though is to do some preliminary design work and conduct a feasibility study at which time we will be in a much better position to gauge the potential cost of the project.

In consideration that this is likely a much larger project that was originally projected, staff is seeking direction on whether or not the CRA is prepared to direct staff to seek professional services for a feasibility study and the design work required to complete an estimate of probable construction cost for the proposed project.