At the December 14th Leon County Commission meeting, the Board accepted the Citizens’ North Monroe Street Corridor Task Force Final Report and staff recommendations.
On April 13, 2021, the Board created the Citizens’ North Monroe Street Corridor Task Force to examine issues along the corridor, from Fred George Road and Tharpe Street, including infrastructure and aesthetic improvements, crime reduction and safety, and responding to the impacts of homelessness.
“The North Monroe I-10 corridor is the number one gateway into Tallahassee. More people come into our community through that point than at any other point,” said Commissioner Rick Minor during a meeting in April 2021, when a task force was being considered.
In recent months the task force comprised of 12 citizen members investigated serious concerns related to North Monroe Street between Fred George Road and Tharpe Street. The analysis also included ideas for how Leon County may implement improvements.
The 65-page report presented to the Board detailed three main components the task force focused on: overall area improvements, crime, and homelessness.
There were already efforts underway to improve the area by the FDOT and the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency. For example, the FDOT has invested about $10 million in the corridor with new bike lanes and median improvements over the last ten years.
Blueprint intends to invest roughly $11 million in the planned North Monroe Gateway Project, including landscaping and new signage.
Along with these efforts, the task force recommends the county explore the option for a Welcome Center and Welcome signage near I-10. Other improvements include:
- The restriping and new pavement markings where necessary.
- Encourage additional and new landscaping efforts.
- Encourage the installation of additional bus stops along the corridor.
- Request FDOT to mitigate the gaps in sidewalk access.
- Reevaluate the Lake Protection Node and examine retail land use.
In response to crime and human trafficking along North Monroe, the task force received reports on crime statistics from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the Tallahassee Police Department, and the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC). As a result, the task force made several suggestions to the county, including:
- Prepare a Proclamation supporting Human Trafficking Awareness Month (January) and identify opportunities for county engagement.
- Continue to support the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center to educate and train business owners and residents to recognize and respond to human trafficking.
- Encourage the Human Services Street Outreach Team to participate in STAC’s human trafficking awareness training.
- The county should request the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to assess compliance for signage and training of staff at public lodging establishments.
- Identify tactics to educate citizens and businesses about programs offered by local law enforcement agencies and encourage the use of these programs.
Lastly, the task force made recommendations to the county to respond to homelessness along the corridor. The team attended presentations by the Big Bend Continuum of Care (BBCoC), the Salvation Army, the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC), and Leon County Office of Human Services and Community Partnerships. These proposals include:
- The continuation of support for the Street Outreach Team to provide housing and shelter to people experiencing homelessness.
- The design of a one-page resource guide which includes contacts for businesses and residents for various outreach teams and resource links.
- Lastly, fund the Homelessness Outreach Street Team (HOST) Deputies, who will address homeless individuals disrupting businesses or trespassing.
You can view the full report here.
Leon County Commission Accepts Report on North Monroe Street Improvements added by Lynsey Kirk on
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Gonna do anything about the groups smoking crack in the Chevron parking lot at Lakeshore and N Monroe? That hotel up through the woods is where their dealer lives. As much traffic as goes to him the hotels gotta know….
@Hope,
It seems that North Monroe street is more prone to non-critical accidents than anywhere else in Tallahassee, probably due to the sheer number of vehicles.
I watched one a while back at N. Monroe and Brevard. I was North bound in the center lane, stopped at the light. The light was green but not moving due to the light at Thomasville Rd. A white pickup facing us wanted to turn in front of us. I looked back and the outside lane was clear and signaled to him that it was clear. About that time a rice rocket hit the lane and hit the gas hard. The truck got into the lane and the driver of the small car locked up his brakes. It wasn’t enough as he t-boned the truck hard enough to deploy the air bags. The driver and his passenger were pretty shook up.
I stayed and chatted with the officers to tell how the two drivers got where they were. I also pointed out the more than 40′ of skid marks that the small car had left before hitting the truck. The officers didn’t care, and the driver of the truck was charged. I tried to get the guy’s name to let him know that he shouldn’t have to take the blame for this and would be glad to act as a witness for him, but another officer was interviewing him and I couldn’t get close without having TPD decide that I needed to be put on their watch list.
Exit 199 is annoyingly noisy. It wasn’t before all the new commercial developments. I no longer even want to spend time outside our house.
A Skeptic,
You are correct about the Lakeshore three-lane debacle. I was rear-ended at that Lakeshore intersection.
What a charade….
Prostitution is rampant near I-10. You know where it is. You should have been dealing with it for years instead of wasting time and money on a plan while it continues unabated.
And who’s the genius that designed the 3-lane northbound lunacy from Sharer road to Walmart? The right land dead-ends into a right turn only onto Lakeshore Drive. The center lane is the access lane to the I-10 exits then merges into the northbound traffic. The left lane splits into the two lanes that continue northbound.
It is so much simpler and less chaotic to just let the two left lanes continue North and work the right lane into the turn lane(s) for Lakeshore and I-10.
So… how much in taxpayer dollars did this feckless waste of paper cost? How many homeless could have been helped with the money wasted on “consultants, committees, and task forces”?
… and around the mountain we go… AGAIN
These are tough issues to tackle.and I’m glad they are being discussed. But, I’m not sure if anything proposed is going to truly address the issues and I know I don’t have the answers myself.
What would be great if some of the folks who want to offer critical comments would also offer up some realistic potential solutions besides electing new folks. I’ll wait….
…and they are considering a “Welcome Center”. Before you build a welcome center, review the homeless camp Lake Ella has become-it is disgusting! The homeless will hang out all day to escape the heat and cold. Secondly, remember this is the bunch that gave the homeless free bus transportation so they could look for work. The homeless loved the free bus tickets because they could ride around all day in air-conditioned comfort in the summer.
The main corridors on the South, East, and North sides are neglected and pitiful and they do not represent a capital city.
Giving money to J T Burnett, no-bid contracts to contributors, junkets to Sandestin and Amelia Island, and mega infrastructure dollars going to a stadium I fear it is not going to get any better in the near future.
Let’s be honest, the County, City and the Mayor have no idea how to deal with crime or how to deal with the homeless.
“This proclamation is in full support of Human trafficking awareness month.” Done. They can strike that item from the list.
So we need a month to be aware of human trafficking? I think they need a month to look for their minds, because they have all clearly lost what is left of them.
Sigh…lots of stuff that they refer to by initials: we got an STAC, a BBCoC, a HOST plus there is a Lake Protection NODE somehow woven in. Some painting, planting, and beautification involved too. Oh and a Street Outreach Team. Then we will be laser focused on that Human Trafficking too.
Why do I not trust our local elected Nannies to actually resolve problems in our city/county?
They will spend a big ‘ole wad of money though…Sigh…Somebody, anybody with sense, pretend to be a leftist, trick local Sheeple voters into electing you and save our city/county from the woke madness.