All;

The email below is a reply I have sent to all the citizens who have emailed the county commission regarding the proposed bicycle/pedestrian path through Haile Plantation.  It should be fairly self-explanatory.  A single individual has done a great deal of damage by using his position on 2 of Haile Plantation's 3 Homeowners Associations to orchestrate what I can only describe, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, as a deliberate disinformation campaign.

This project is vitally important to the county's multimodal transportation future.  It is now at the 30% design phase, and is on track to be constructed later this year, unless the county commission, in reaction to this sudden backlash, votes to change course.  If the community wants this to happen, the commission needs to hear it.  This Tuesday evening the commission will receive comment on the project, and decide whether or not to accept staff's recommendation to 1) schedule a staff presentation to the residents of Haile Plantation (to counter the grossly dishonest presentation made by a few members of the Homeowners Association Boards at a large public gathering last week), and 2) proceed with the 30% designs, so we'll actually know exactly where the path will go.

This is an important one.  Please pass the word, let the commission hear your views, and attend the meeting if you can.

Regards,

Mike

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This email is in reply to everyone who has emailed me regarding the proposed bicycle and pedestrian path on Haile Blvd. and SW 91st St.. a portion of the so-called "Archer Braid."  I want to clarify a few things, and offer my current perspective on this proposal.

Whether the path should be built is certainly debatable, but the basic facts concerning its construction aren't.  Sadly, a few individuals who oppose this project have chosen to steer public opinion by deliberately disseminating false information.  We're not really in a position to make a wise decision until the community is armed with the basic facts.

Both a letter widely circulated by representatives of Haile Plantation's three homeowners associations, and signs and cones subsequently placed by them, make the following claims:

1. Residents of Haile Plantation will have to pay additional homeowners association dues in order to maintain this facility.  This is false.  The county will be wholly responsible for the facility.  Any additional mowing that Haile Plantation currently does along the impacted roads will not be affected one way or another by this facility, except that somewhat less ground will need mowing.  The facility will be maintained to a far higher standard than the current network of private paths.

2. Residents of Haile Plantation might be legally liable for any accidents on the facility.  This is false.  The path is public property, no different from any other street owned by Alachua County.

3. The proposed route will require the removal of the Haile Plantation entrance sign.  This is false.

4. The proposed route will require the removal of the large live oak in the median on the east leg of the intersection of Haile Blvd. and SW 91st. St.  This is false.

5. A series of cones placed along Haile Blvd. and SW 91st St. show the route and size of the facility.  They don't.  The facility will follow a meandering path, and vary between 6 and 10 feet,  in order to minimize impacts to trees and infrastructure.  Specific details will emerge during the design process, which has not yet been done, and which will involve close consultation with residents.  The final product will resemble the path that has just been built on SW 91st St. between SW 8th Ave. and Newberry Road.  Please go take a look at it.

6. Haile Plantation is already served by a network of bike paths, so this project is unnecessary.  Existing private facilities are badly deteriorated, creating safety hazards for both bicyclists and walkers, and contain large gaps.  Long stretches are hidden from public view or cross immediately behind residences.  The proposed facility will follow a high-visibility route that will be much safer for all users, and will be built and maintained to a substantially higher standard than the current private facilities.  Most notably, the path will provide a safe path for children from Haile Plantation to Wiles Elementary and Kanapaha Middle School.

7. Haile Plantation is a private neighborhood, with private streets, so a public path is inappropriate.  Haile Plantation is identical to every other public neighborhood in Alachua County: private lots and jointly-owned common areas front on public roads, which are owned by all the people of Alachua County.

8. This proposal has been dropped upon the residents of Haile Plantation with almost no warning or public input.  In fact, Archer Braid, an abstract term for what is really just a more-or-less continuous bicycle and pedestrian path connecting a series of neighborhoods and destinations along a route from the town of Archer to the University of Florida, originated in the Alachua County Bicycle Master Plan over a decade ago.  This plan analyzed population and zoning distribution patterns, and generated a prioritized ranking of projects based upon population served per dollar spent.  The Archer Braid, whose specific route was not established at that time, emerged as the clear top priority, and planning and funding efforts have been directed at implementing ever since.  Several citizen advisory committees have reviewed the project on multiple occasions.  Numerous televised public hearings of both the county commission and the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO) have included discussions, and voting approval, of the Archer Braid, and several public workshops have been held to inform the public and solicit comment, including one specifically for the residents of Haile Plantation.  

9. The purpose of the Archer Braid is to connect the Hawthorne Trail on the east side of Gainesville to the west side of Gainesville.  This is an oddly constructed statement, and it's not clear what motivates it.  It's akin to saying that the purpose of Haile Blvd. is to connect Haile Plantation to the airport.  The purpose of the Archer Braid is to add to the existing grid of bicycle paths and sidewalks all over the county. 

Some citizens have proposed locating the facility along Tower and Archer Roads instead, but this misses the point.  Both those roads already have facilities.  This project is intended to provide a safe way for people to bike and walk along the only two major remaining roads in the area that don't already have sidewalks, and would make sense even if there were no "Archer Braid."  However, instead of the standard 6' wide concrete sidewalks on both sides of the road (as on SW 91st St. from Haile Village Center all the way to SW 24th Ave.,) the proposal is for a single, narrower, asphalt path that is flexible in route and design, to minimize visual impacts.  I am aware of no complaints regarding the existing sidewalks on SW 91st. street north of the Haile Village Center.  Those sidewalks have not created any of the problems that some now fear the new path will create, yet the only difference is that the new path will blend in more effectively with the scenery.

The commercial viability of Haile Village Center has always been understood to be dependent on substantial business from outside Haile Plantation.  The Village Center is designed to be bicycle and pedestrian friendly, and is a perfect destination for cycling customers, but they need safe routes.

The Archer Braid is funded through a combination of Florida Dept. of Transportation funds and developer contributions.

I hope everyone will take these points into consideration before arriving at a final opinion about this vital project.

Regards,

Mike