Transportation networks are the backbone of economic security, mobility and communities. As recent stay-at-home orders caused networks to slow down across the nation, initiatives accelerated their project schedules due to reduced levels of congestion on highways and roads. EXP’s transportation engineers and professionals readied themselves for this impending acceleration and adapted quickly for success.
EXP’s senior vice president, Phil Stevens, leads transportation initiatives in Florida. When asked how his team adapted, he shared, “Before the pandemic, our teams kept one goal in mind: deliver exceptional services to transportation projects throughout Florida. As the situation evolved, and transportation initiatives accelerated, we shifted our strategy to incorporate additional safety measures to ensure we could preserve operational success. Our role was to continue to meet project needs and always be ready for the unexpected, including FDOT expediting over 40 critical transportation projects. To many of us, Florida has always been home, or felt like home, and we’re deeply invested in the health of our transportation systems.”
Moving forward
EXP plays an important role in the delivery of essential services to improve Florida’s roadways. To keep fast-paced projects on track, EXP is consistent in the delivery of services, quality assurance measures and accuracy of deliverables. Anthony Caruso, vice president, construction services, notes, “Our teams are equipped to deliver essential construction, engineering and inspection services for FDOT’s accelerated initiatives. We continue to adapt and deliver our services with the required flexibility to support the industry’s evolving needs.”
Miami team member, vice president, Jose Clavell, is also moving projects forward with the delivery of mobility projects, where all of forms of transportation are interconnected by the optimization of multimodal and intermodal system needs using the latest technological advances in transportation. He shares, “Roads and highways are faced with aggressive maintenance and capacity needs. With a constant increase in demand and with limited right-of-way availability, we look to the future for methods to manage congestion with consistent and strategic improvements to our roads. By constructing, designing and alleviating pressure on the networks, we can provide a safe transportation system, with increased mobility of people and goods, that enhances economic development while preserving the quality of our environment.”
The impact of congestion throughout Florida is why EXP is strategically positioned to address its widespread effect. Vice president, David McFarlin, shared, “Due to Florida’s size, population and traffic volume, our teams continuously work to assess the effects of congestion on pavement and the necessary solutions and remedies. Our team works with FDOT and neighboring Departments of Transportation, including Georgia, to mitigate the effects of traffic between the states. At EXP, we look at transportation holistically before boiling it down to specific roads. We see the interconnectedness between states and their networks and work with our experts across the US to identify and solve problems.”
Solutions with communities in mind
For every project, EXP’s experts conduct comprehensive assessments on the impacts on communities and the complex natural environments within Florida. These assessments are intended to help the public understand the importance of each project and to partner with local municipalities to achieve project goals. Community involvement is part of FDOT’s process, as well as EXP’s. Transportation design manager, Kyle Harper notes, “By partnering with community groups, we are able to understand their needs and find commonality with FDOT to deliver meaningful projects. We are currently leading a preliminary design for SR-5/US-1 from 59th Street to SR-850/Northlake Boulevard. This project includes a feasibility study to assess the addition of bike lanes and premium transit stop facilities, where we will consider installation without significant impacts to the community and costs to the FDOT. The involvement of the community is important for success since they will use these facilities and their voice is what we want to hear to support a successful project.”
EXP is proud to work on significant transportation projects to improve Florida’s transportation system.