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ANALYSIS In assessing the area in the vicinity of the Medical Center, it appears that much of the land north and southwest of the Indian River Medical Center is presently vacant and/or underdeveloped (See Attachment 1). On the future land use maps of Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach, most of this property is anticipated to be developed for Commercial and Office purposes. As it develops, access to these parcels and connectivity to the larger roadway network will have to be provided by developers in accordance with Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations. In light of these facts, staff from the County, MPO, and City of Vero Beach have identified an opportunity to provide alternative roadway access to the Medical Center. Two concepts are described in detail below. Aviation Boulevard Extension This 2-lane/3-lane connection would begin at the intersection of US 1 and Aviation Boulevard and travel north-east to the back entrance to the Medical Center. Staff has sketched two rough conceptual alignments to complete this connection (Attachment 2), both of which are variations on an Aviation Boulevard Extension concept formally considered by the MPO a number of years ago. If constructed, this concept would have a number of ancillary benefits to the road network, including relieving traffic on US 1(from Aviation Boulevard to 37th Street) and on 37th Street, and providing a speedier connection to the IRMC Emergency Room for traffic coming from the west and south. In addition, this project would complement the US 1/Aviation Blvd. intersection improvements now being explored by FDOT at the MPO's prompting. New North-South Connection (41St Street — 37th Street) This 2 -lane north -south roadway would align somewhere in the vicinity of 101h/11th Avenues and connect 41St Street directly to the driveway entrance to the medical center on 37th Street (Attachment 3). That connection would enable traffic coming from the north to bypass 37th Street by turning eastbound on 41St Street and then southbound on the new roadway. The north - south roadway could be constructed through future development and re -development activity on the north side of 37th Street. CONCLUSION Staff had undertaken some preliminary analysis and determined that the identified alternatives may be viable alternatives to widening 37' Street from a traffic flow standpoint. FSUTMS, the standardized FDOT travel demand forecasting model developed as part of the Long Range Transportation Plan, predicts that approximately 5,600 vehicles per day would use the Aviation Boulevard Extension. This represents a substantial amount of traffic that would otherwise be forced to use 37th Street. An additional 1,200 vehicles are predicted to use the new north -south connector. A full determination of the viability of the alternatives will require an analysis of C:\Users\legistar\AppData\Local\Temp\BCL Technologies\easyPDF 8\@BCL@280E57B3\@BCL@280E57B3.docx P92