US 17 Vision & Action Plan

Florida Department of Transportation, District One

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), District One has created a new Planning Studio Department to ensure that its transportation projects and strategies align closely with community visions and goals. The Planning Studio includes early engagement with transportation users, local governments, residents, business owners, and other stakeholders to clarify the land use and transportation vision for communities along state roadways throughout District One. This early understanding of the issues, opportunities, and vision serves as the foundation for identifying supportive transportation strategies to move the community forward.

The culminating product of the Planning Studio process for Winter Haven, FL is a detailed corridor action plan called, US 17 Vision & Action Plan. It includes an integrated land use and transportation vision for the subject corridor and supporting implementation plan of multi-modal transportation strategies and complementary land use policies. This community-based evaluation determines how best to serve the needs of current and future users of the corridor and establishes a long-term plan to guide evolution of the corridor toward the intended vision.

Development of the US 17 Vision & Action Plan is two-phased. In Phase 1, a Corridor Context Report was developed to define the existing land use, environmental, economic, socio-cultural, and transportation characteristics, conditions, and context. This provides the foundation for engagement with partner agencies, community leaders, and other stakeholders to confirm the existing context which provides the groundwork for defining the corridor vision.

In Phase 2, this Corridor Vision and Action Plan was developed to articulate the community vision and identify specific strategies to accomplish the safety, accessibility, connectivity, and land use objectives for the corridor. It includes a phased implementation plan describing the roles for FDOT and its agency partners in carrying out the plan. It includes operational strategies, larger scale strategic investments, as well as land use and other policy recommendations.

The final US 17 Vision & Action Plan document may be viewed at Issuu.com.