The city of Tampa recently unveiled its MOVES plan, which aims to commit $2 billion toward transportation safety and infrastructure improvements by 2050.
City officials say the plan is focused on connecting neighborhoods, managing congestion, and creating better roadway safety methods for bikers and pedestrians.
Alex Henry, the city of Tampa Mobility Department’s interim chief planner, helped form the plan. He begins by talking about the plan’s inception through rounds of community engagement.
What has the community said and prioritized as the city has had discussions with them over transportation needs?
People want streets that are safer. They want to be able to be sure that they're getting from point A to point B safely as kind of the most fundamental goal. They want more opportunities and options to get around. They want to be able to walk and bike, and take transit. Equity and our decision making was something that we heard a lot about as well. So the equitable distribution of resources around the city, as well as being transparent in how we are making decisions and how we are identifying those projects. So all that feedback really helped us establish what those core principles of MOVES are.
Can we just go over this, this MOVES plan. Give me a broad overview of what the city is trying to provide here.
So the first thing it does is it kind of tells Tampa's transportation history of how we got here. What were the decisions and the trends that have shaped Tampa's transportation landscape? From there, it really drills into our existing conditions to help us understand what transportation assets do we have? Where are there things that are missing?
The second thing it does is really provides us with a framework of how to do that. So looking at safety data, looking at socioeconomic data to make sure that we're incorporating equity. Putting all that together and creating a data-driven framework to really help us prioritize projects and know how we can make the biggest impact with our limited resources.
The other thing that it does is it really draws a formal link between land use contexts in our transportation planning and design processes. Making sure that when we're planning for and designing roadways, we're being considerate of the surrounding roadway context, putting the right street in the right place.
Which aspect of the plan of the three that you just mentioned to me is most exciting to you?
Really, the framework to help us identify and prioritize projects is what excites me the most. And I think that's the aspect that's going to be the most applicable to most folks in the community who might be reviewing this plan.
"... with a lot of maintenance items, the longer you put them off, the more expensive it is in the in the long term to repair. It's a big number, and we acknowledge that, but we're a growing city with a lot of transportation needs."Alex Henry
Within the first five pages of the plan, it does talk about a big detriment to transportation improvements, and that is a lack of funding. So can you speak a bit to that and how that can have such a profound impact on transportation improvements over a large scale?
We've identified about $2 billion worth of needs. Our annual transportation budget is nowhere near the amount that’s required to implement that. So we wanted to acknowledge that and be transparent of that while not limiting our ability to dream 30 years out and imagine what Tampa's transportation system could look like, cognizant that funding situations do change. And the other thing that I had mentioned related to funding is that our limited funding restrictions are really a part of what makes this plan so critical.
A lot of people might see $2 billion and get nervous. I mean, it sounds just like an insane amount of money even if it's spread out over the course of this many years. What would you say to people who are apprehensive toward this plan and say, ‘Hey, maybe we shouldn't be spending so much money on something like this?’
Throughout the city, we have 1,300 miles of sidewalk gaps … 40% of our roadways are in poor failing pavement condition and need to be being repaved, which is something that I think all road users encounter on a day-to-day basis. And the reality is, with a lot of maintenance items, the longer you put them off, the more expensive it is in the in the long term to repair. It's a big number, and we acknowledge that, but we're a growing city with a lot of transportation needs.
You planning on being here in 2050 when this when this plan is either updated or getting done?
Yeah, I sure do hope so. And I'm really excited to see what Tampa looks like in 30 years. Mayor Jane Castor has lived through her whole life and she often says that in the next 10 years in Tampa, the city is going to change more than it has in her entire lifetime. And I think we're seeing that all around the city right now, the transformations that are happening. And it's really exciting to see the city grow in this way, and really excited to see the ways in which this plan and some of our transportation efforts might help shape that and make it easier and safer for folks to get around.
