US 27 is a truck route and included in the SEFTC 2040 regional corridor network. The 2040 SIS Unfunded Needs plan identifies widening US 27 from four to six lanes as a mid-term improvement and five new interchanges as long-term improvements.
The US 27 corridor has undergone nine planning efforts through FDOT since 2005:
1) Memorandum for Proposed Truck Stop Facility - 2005 study which identified two potential locations for privately developed truck stops in the median of US27 at SW 26th Street and SW 36th Street.
2) South Florida Inland Port Feasibility Study - 2007 study to analyze potential locations for an Intermodal Logistics Center (ILC) near Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach, Highlands, or Martin Counties.
3) SR25/US27 Florida Intrastate Highway System Action Plan - 2008 two-phase study to identify the actions which FDOT and local governments will need to take to protect and enhance the SR25/US27 corridor. The preferred alternative from this study included frontage roads on US27 from Krome Avenue in Miami Dade County to Pines Blvd in Broward County with a Turbo T intersection at Pines Blvd at a cost of $76.5 million. Additional recommendations included bicycle/pedestrian improvements, park and ride lots, encouraging carpooling programs, land use and development monitoring, an access management master plan, and a right of way concept plan at a cost of $1.947 million.
4) Multimodal Needs Assessment Report - 2008 study to develop a plan for addressing multimodal needs in the US 27 corridor. This includes coordination with FDOT District 1, 6, and Central Office, working with District 4 Traffic Operations Office to identify short term safety improvements, and incorporate the South Florida Inland Port Feasiblity Study.
5) SR25/US27 Rail Corridor Feasibility Assessment Study - 2010 study to analyze the feasiblity of US27 as a freight and passenger rail corridor. This was a macro level study and did not include cost estimates, funding sources, design, or evaluation of environmental impacts.
6) US27 Multimodal Planning and Conceptual Engineering (PACE) Study - 2012 Follow up to the 2010 Rail Corridor Feasibility Study, this study exacmined the feasibility of a new rail bypass, cost estimates, conceptual design, environmental screening, and coordination with resource agencies and key stakeholders. The proposed alignments would connect Port Miami with intermodal logistic centers around Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. The two proposed alternatives were highway only and multimodal (freight rail and highway) at a cost of $763 million and $1.2 billion respectively.
7) Interregional Transportation Infrastructure Needs Study - 2012 study analyzing the infrastructure needs in the case of new ILCs opening near Lake Okeechobee. These alternatives included improvements to US27.
8) SR25/US27 Transportation Alternative Study - 2013 high level multimodal study on the US27 corridor from Miami Dade County to Marion County.
9) SR25/US27 Corridor Safety Study - 2016 study recommending enhancements to reduce crashes on the high accident rate segment between I-75 and South Bay. Short, medium, and long term improvements were proposed with a final cost of $54.4 million These prior planning efforts have identified recommendations to solve safety issues, including grade separation. However, the current demand on US 27 does not yet justify any capacity expansion projects.
The Palm Beach MPO identified US 27 as a reliever because it is anticipated that two passenger services will operate on the FEC and there is a need to ensure a plan exists for moving freight in the region. The Palm Beach MPO plans to hold a meeting with MPOs, RPCs, and FDOT to reenergize this concept of freight rail along the corridor.
SFRPC and TCRPC are currently hosting a series of stakeholder meetings for the US 27 corridor in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties to take corridor improvements to the next step. The RPCs are gauging political interest in implementing the improvements from prior studies. A possible outcome of these conversations would be for the MPOs and FDOT to include the improvements in their LRTPs and work program.
Example last updated August 2017
Contact: Lisa Dykstra, FDOT D4 PLEMO; Christina Miskis, SFRPC; Kevin Fischer, Palm Beach MPO; Paul Flavian, Broward MPO
Ex. ID 068, 609
| SIS Facilities | |
|---|---|
| Freight: | Designed for high-speed regional freight movement |
| Primary Commerce | |
| Freight: | Designed for freight & business mobility |