View of Tamiami Bridge under construction looking east/NPS file
Work on improving the flow of water through Everglades National Park is scheduled to resume in November following the awarding of a contract to complete the second and final phase of the Tamiami Trail Next Steps Project, the Trump administration announced Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Transportation, in coordination with the national park, will oversee this critical project to improve water flow to one of the most over-drained wetlands within the Greater Everglades watershed. The Florida Department of Transportation awarded the contract to General Asphalt Jones Benitez Joint Venture.
The $200 million Tamiami Trail Next Steps Project represents a new approach to collaboration between federal and state agencies by merging funding and expertise to achieve important regional transportation, sustainability, and Everglades restoration goals all in one project, the administration said in a release.
"National Parks and Conservation Association celebrates this news," said Cara Capp, the association's senior Everglades program manager. "Raising the trail will be a tremendous victory for Everglades restoration and the end-result of 30 years of hard work by conservationists, local communities, and state and federal leaders.
"Florida’s waters are continually in crisis, and sending clean water south is the best way to safeguard the future of the Everglades. Awarding this contract represents a significant next step in achieving our goal for a restored, resilient, and thriving Greater Everglades ecosystem," she added. "This process is a testimony to the successful state and federal partnership in place to benefit an iconic national park, as well as the more than eight million Floridians who depend on this ecosystem for clean water."
Phase 2 of the project will focus on raising and reconstructing the remaining 6.7 miles of the eastern Tamiami Trail with features to further improve water conveyance, roadway safety, and stormwater treatment.
Phase 1 of the Next Steps Project improved water flow through the Tamiami Trail with the construction of a one-mile bridge in 2013 and 2.3-miles of bridging completed in 2019. Last year, Everglades National Park received a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to match a commitment from the state of Florida, which provided a total of $100 million funding for Phase 2.
By the completion of Phase 2 at the end of 2024, water is expected to flow more freely with fewer impediments into Everglades National Park for the first time since the early 1900s. Significantly and safely increasing water flow into the park will rehydrate more than one million acres of park lands and stabilize the salinity and health of Florida Bay, which is critical to the success of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), and to achieving a restored Everglades.
Completed in 1928, Tamiami Trail is a crucial corridor between southwest Florida and Miami, but it has long been recognized as a barrier to the flow of water into Everglades National Park. The Tamiami Trail Next Steps Project is expected to enhance the connectivity and sheet flow between the marshes north and south of the Tamiami Trail while maintaining the vital transportation link between southwest Florida and Miami.
"The granting of this award is an exciting milestone in the completion of such a critical project for Everglades restoration,” said Margaret Everson, Counselor to the Secretary, exercising the delegated authority of the National Park Service Director. "This step is a wonderful example of how collaboration and coordination with our partners sets the stage for long-term restoration efforts.”
“From day one of my administration, Everglades restoration has been a top priority and today’s announcement is another major step forward in this critical mission,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “The final phase of the Tamiami Trail Next Steps project will allow for more clean water to be sent south to revitalize Florida Bay and improve the quality of our state’s waterways. I thank the Trump Administration for their ongoing support of not only our nation’s Everglades but also our larger goal to improve and protect all of Florida’s valuable water resources.”
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Could you please elaborate when this project started? I believe it was in 2013 under the Obama administration with an investment of 2.2 billion to Everglades restoration. Is this the final phase?
yes. This project was underway long before Trump.
Just like the economic recovery, many of the positive things underway didn't start in January 2017. However, unlike the choice the Trump Adminstration made in not fighting a pandemic even though a playbook was left behind for them to, they kept this project on the books.
Florida Florida Florida
The economic recovery that was the weakest since the great depression? Coming out of a recession is the easy part - takes no effort at all. Keeping it going for a record lenth of time and establishing record employment, record low unemployment takes effective policies. BTW, please share - what exactly was that "play book"?
I've heard it alluded to several times and places - a "how-to" guide for dealing with the possible pandemic forseen was on the shelf after the Obama team left, and it was apparently rebustly ignored once the pandemic actually arrived,
Gosh, ecbuck, when you mention the "economic recovery" that you, once again based on nothing more than emphatic assertion, claim was "the weakest" since the great depression, don't you feel any reponsibility at all to own up to which party, SINCE IT WAS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, that created the need for that "economic recovery" in the first place?
"Coming out of a recession is the easy part - takes no effort at all?" Really? Did you forget the years of obstructionism from that same republican party that the previous administration had to overcome to BRING AMERICA OUT OF THAT RECESSION IMPOSED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY? Have you really forgotten what caused that recession or do you actually not have any understanding of basic economics? You have a degree of some sort; you're starting to learn how to spell; who in God's name attended your classes, did your coursework, and took your tests for you?
"Keeping it going for a record lenth (sic) of time and establishing record employment, record low unemployment takes effective policies?" Really? You really want to go there? Some of us are actual investors, with real amounts of money, money that we made all by ourselves. We made money hand over fist until the current administration did that cheesy pump and dump with its fall of 2017 tax scam and caused A MASSIVE DIP IN THE MARKETS! Then, FOR TWO YEARS investments BARELY WALLOWED BACK UP and I do mean BARELY WALLOWED before AN INCOMPETENT REPUBLICAN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS caused problems that have only started to get better as we get closer to an election that might, if we're lucky, THROW THE REPUBLICANS AND THEIR ECONOMIC INCOMPETENCE OUT!
May 10, 2018 at 4:32 p.m. EDT
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The top White House official responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of a deadly pandemic has left the administration, and the global health security team he oversaw has been disbanded under a reorganization by national security adviser John Bolton.
The abrupt departure of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council means no senior administration official is now focused solely on global health security. Ziemer's departure, along with the breakup of his team, comes at a time when many experts say the country is already underprepared for the increasing risks of a pandemic or bioterrorism attack.
Ziemer's last day was Tuesday, the same day a new Ebola outbreak was declared in Congo. He is not being replaced.
Pandemic preparedness and global health security are issues that require government-wide responses, experts say, as well as the leadership of a high-ranking official within the White House who is assigned only this role.
I do blame Bush for not shutting down the excesses when he had a chance but the root of the collapse was not sown during Republican adminsitrations. Do some research into the CRA initiated by Carter and put on steroids by Clinton. Also check into Reno's black mailing of the mortgage industry. When you force banks to give unqualified people credit in the name of "equity" you are bound to have a disaster.
And Humph, I don't think you want to go toe to toe with investment expertise. By the way, you might not have noticed the markets have been hitting repeated record highs recently.
Oh you heard it "alluded" to did you Rick? What did it say? What was advised that wasn't done? Answer - as ususal - you don't have a clue. But hey don't let facts get in the way of a good baseless accusation.