Each year, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) develops the Five Year Work Program in accordance with Florida Statute 339.135. The five year work program is used to forecast the funds needed for upcoming transportation system improvements scheduled for the next five years. This is an ongoing process.

The development of this Work Program can involve extensive coordination with local governments, including Metropolitan Planning Organizations and other city and county officials. In District Two’s two urbanized areas, the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization (North Florida TPO) and the Gainesville Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO), have the responsibility to develop transportation plans and prioritize local transportation needs. In non-metropolitan areas, county commissions establish priorities. FDOT considers the prioritized transportation improvements identified by the two TPOs and local governments. This process is reflected in the Work Program, which includes financial information about transportation projects.

New Projects

Each year, new projects are added to the program in the fifth year of the cycle ensuring that the financial balance forecast for the first four years is maintained. As a new fifth year is added to the cycle, the current year drops out of the plan, introducing a new five-year work program. This process for landscaping projects operates somewhat differently in that the Department is required to provide landscaping each fiscal year based upon annual budgetary balances. Because of the dynamic nature of construction budgets, landscape project schedules and budgets can fluctuate significantly.

Public Hearings

Public hearings are held in each of the state’s seven transportation districts and a statewide public hearing is held by the Florida Transportation Commission in Tallahassee. The Florida Transportation Commission then performs an in-depth review of the Work Program and presents the results to the Executive Office of the Governor

Influencing Factors

The Department bases the Work Program on sound, multimodal transportation concepts and the best available forecasts of costs and funding. As such, the Department has the financial capacity to embark on projects as they are planned. Also, the following circumstances, which are beyond the control of the Department, may significantly influence the stability of the work program:

• Changes in federal or state revenue estimates
• Increased inflation rates
• Changes in bond market conditions
• Changing federal regulations
• Difficulty in acquiring right-of-way
• Ecological and environmental factors
• Extraordinary increases in right-of-way costs
• Unanticipated contract litigation
• Other economic forces impacting state transportation revenues
• Changes in TPO and local priorities

The Department is committed to the policy of implementing projects as scheduled in the Work Program, minimizing changes to the plan, and ensuring appropriate communication of any necessary changes as they occur.