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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Reducing Habitat Fragmentation Related to the Widening of State Road 40 in the Ocala National Forest and State of Florida Public Lands

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Five was tasked with evaluating highway improvements that provided increased transportation capacity and safety along a segment of State Road 40 in Central Florida (SR 40). The evaluation addressed the needs of environmentally sensitive landscapes that serve as vital wildlife habitat and corridors in an increasingly fragmented region of Florida. Beginning in 1988 and continuing through the 1990s, FDOT began multiple Project Development and Environment (PD&E) studies of capacity improvements to SR 40. Each of these efforts was eventually halted due to concerns about the potential for significant environmental impacts. The study included portions of SR 40 from west of Silver Springs in Marion County to US 17 in Volusia County, a distance of approximately 40 miles. SR 40 links Interstate 75, through the center of the State, to Interstate 95 along Florida’s east coast. SR 40 traverses public lands owned and managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Office of Greenways and Trails and State Parks, the Florida Division of Forestry, and the United States Forest Service (USFS). The Ocala National Forest lies at the center of this segment of SR 40 and is the centerpiece of over a half million acres of publicly managed conservation lands in North Central Florida. It is a central component of key conservation corridors designed to protect important wildlife species including the Florida scrub–jay, red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern indigo snake, sand skink, and Florida black bear. In 2001, FDOT proactively took a new approach to resolving longstanding concerns and initiated a Collaborative Feasibility Study. As a part of that study, FDOT, USFS, FDEP and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) convened to form the State Road 40 Collaborative Task Force. This group of public and private stakeholders developed a series of “Guiding Principles”, which served as a beginning point for a PD&E study. During the PD&E Study, a Wildlife Crossing Committee consisting of public lands managers, non-governmental organizations, FDOT and other interested stakeholders was established. This committee worked together to identify locations and sizes of wildlife crossings along SR 40. The PD&E study culminated in the completion of an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impacts currently being reviewed by the Federal Highway Administration. In 2011, design phases for the first two segments of the SR 40 corridor were initiated. The design teams continued to meet with the Wildlife Crossing Committee that was formed during the PD&E study to gain stakeholder concurrence for the proposed wildlife connectivity enhancements that will be implemented within the project corridor. The session presenters will discuss the proposed improvements to SR 40, including the process and methods used to establish the location, size, interior and exterior features, fencing, and maintenance of wildlife crossings. In addition, the multiple ancillary benefits of the project, including significant improvement of motorist safety, improved management of public lands, establishment of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway, secondary economic benefits of reconnecting wildlife metapopulations, and land acquisition efforts will be detailed.

  • Summary URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Abstract used with permission from the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, organized by the Center for Transportation and the Environment, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University.
  • Corporate Authors:

    North Carolina State University, Raleigh

    Center for Transportation and the Environment
    Raleigh, NC  United States  27695-8601
  • Authors:
    • Roberts, Tom
    • Easley, Mark
    • Houck, Jason
    • Hernandez, Hannah
  • Conference:
  • Publication Date: 2013

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Photos; References;
  • Pagination: 19p
  • Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2013)

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01557938
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Mar 27 2015 10:30AM