OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Ocala Marion Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) held a community workshop at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place on February 25, 2025, to discuss the 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The forum was an opportunity for the public to provide input on the transportation system and share thoughts on how to navigate the future.
In April 2024, a public meeting kicked off the process, with TPO board chair and current Ocala City Council president Kristin Dreyer opening the session. Rob Balmes, AICP, CTP, director of the Ocala Marion TPO, highlighted the collaboration with TPO’s consultant, Kimley-Horn and Associates, who have worked together to conduct a series of workshops.
Following the initial meeting, another community workshop was held in September to gather feedback on priorities, needs, and opportunities. Topics such as transit, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian safety, and roadway capacity were explored to understand where improvements are most needed. “That helped put in place the framework for developing the goals and objectives,” said Balmes.
The 2050 LRTP Vision and Goals
The vision of the 2050 LRTP focuses on creating a safe, accessible, and efficient multimodal transportation system to serve the community and environment. The key goals are:
- Prioritizing safety and security for all users
- Promoting system preservation and resiliency to adapt to future changes
- Creating a quality of life and places through accessible transportation
- Promoting accessible multimodal travel choices
- Addressing community needs
- Supporting local and regional economic development by connecting communities and businesses
- Safeguarding the environment with a focus on environmental protection
- Emphasizing implementation to turn plans into tangible outcomes
The community open house on February 25 was part of the ongoing LRTP project schedule, with the next meeting scheduled for March. This upcoming meeting will focus on the needs assessment, followed by a discussion of project priorities in May. A draft plan will be available for public review in September, and the final plan is expected to be adopted in November 2025.
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“Moving forward, we’re also looking at some growth scenario planning for transportation, help with updating our priorities, and we’re looking at an initial needs list of projects,” said Balmes. “This phase, it’s not constrained by money; we’re just asking the public [and] our partner governments to tell us what we need on our roadway system, our trails, our sidewalks, and our transit facilities. The next step is then working with the consultant and developing the cost-feasible element. That’s tied to the projected state revenues that we anticipate coming to Marion County between 2030 and 2050.”
Key Themes and Major Concerns
Several key themes emerged from the community input, including:
- Safety: There is a strong concern regarding fatal and severe injury crashes.
- Growth and Congestion: With significant growth in the area, residents are concerned about increasing traffic congestion.
- Affordable Housing: Rising demand for housing, along with increasing labor and material costs, has contributed to a rise in home prices and rents, outpacing income growth.
Ultimately, the ability to address these issues will depend on available funding. However, the community workshops provide a framework for the next 25 years of transportation planning. “That’s going to force us to narrow down the project list to what’s realistic of what we can do in 25 years. You have billions of dollars in need, but you only have half a billion dollars in revenue,” Balmes said. “That would be the challenging part of the process. Our governing board of elected officials will have the final say in all that.”
The Ocala Marion TPO is required by federal law to update the LRTP every five years. Balmes noted that transportation priorities evolve as community needs change. “We do this round, and then a few years down the road, things change a little bit in the community, more than we thought or other needs and priorities come up, things change, and then five years from now we’re doing the same thing,” he said. “People who’ve been in this business for a while have seen some of these priorities unfunded unfortunately for many years. Of course, there’s s a lot of good success stories, too.”
Marion County voters have played a crucial role in making transportation projects a reality through the Penny Sales Tax, which has funded significant infrastructure improvements. Established in 2016, the tax had generated approximately $170 million by 2020, with 30% of that coming from tourists and visitors to the county.
“The continuation of the penny sales tax, especially with the 20-year horizon, that certainly helps the county plan for long term,” said Balmes. “That’s a great source of funding to leverage, federal, state dollars, just get things done that otherwise may not be able to be done with finite resources.”
To further educate the public, the TPO is producing videos that highlight key concerns raised during the planning process. These videos, along with other project materials, will be available on the LRTP project website for public review.