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Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element <br />Currently, the county spends about $100,000 per year of local option sales tax funds and will be <br />spending approximately $1,500,000 over the next five years in enhancement funds for sidewalks <br />and bike paths. <br />In Indian River County, the number of off-road bicycle and pedestrian facilities is relatively small. <br />Notable facilities include a boardwalk trail to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge <br />observation tower; a trail at Kitching Station along CR 512; and a trail on Old Winter Beach road. <br />In order to connect major destinations in the Vero Beach/Central County area, the Indian River <br />County MPO, in 2006, developed a Central County Greenways Plan. That plan identified a number <br />of off-road bicycle and pedestrian projects that will, when complete, produce a system of connected <br />greenways in the central county area. Those projects will be located along railroad, canal, airport, <br />and other publicly owned rights-of-way. In 2008, the MPO developed a North County Greenways <br />Plan to produce a system of greenways in the North County area. <br />With respect to bicycle and pedestrian safety, seven roadways in the county averaged one or more <br />bicycle crashes per year from 1996 to 2006. These included SR 60 (58th — 43rd Avenue); SR 60 <br />(27th Avenue to 14th Avenue); 16th/17th Street (20th Avenue to Indian River Boulevard); 12th Street <br />(20th Avenue to Old Dixie Highway); US 1 (12th Street to SR 60 and 26th Street to 41St Street); <br />Royal Palm Point at Indian River Boulevard; and CR 512 (Roseland Road to Fleming Street). In <br />2006, FDOT reported a bike/ped fatality rate of 2.96 per 100,000 persons in Indian River County. <br />Transit <br />According to research findings, indicators of transit need include high elderly populations, low <br />household income, and low auto availability. At nearly 48 years, the Indian River County <br />median age was the 11th highest in the United States (out of 3,141 counties) in 2000. In addition, <br />the County had the 5th highest median age among counties of 50,000 persons or more. In 2005, <br />the county's elderly (age 65 and older) population was 29.2%, while the per capita personal <br />income for the county was $40,677. According to 2000 census figures, 9.3% of the population <br />lived below the poverty level, while Blacks (8.2%) and Latinos (6.5%) were the largest minority <br />groups in the county; 23% of residents were disabled, and approximately 6% of county residents <br />had no vehicle. Census data from 2000 also showed that .37 % of residents used public <br />transportation to commute to work. <br />Figure 4-7 shows major trip production and attraction locations in the county in 2008. At that <br />time, the major shopping areas for the county were located in the central county area. These <br />included the Miracle Mile and Treasure Coast Plazas east of downtown Vero Beach and a <br />number of centers west of Vero Beach. Centers in the west -central portion of the county <br />included the Vero Fashion Outlet (formerly Horizon Outlet Mall), the Indian River Mall, <br />Ryanwood shopping center, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, the Wal-Mart Superstore and Sam's <br />Club. South Vero Square and Oslo Plaza shopping centers were located in the southern part of <br />the county. North County retail centers included the Riverwalk Shopping Center, the Sebastian <br />Wal-Mart Superstore and the downtown Sebastian area. <br />Through its Indian River Transit division, the Senior Resource Association operates a fixed route <br />transit system six days per week. The fixed route service, which in 2007 became formally <br />Community Development Department Indian River County 27 <br />