CR 951 PD&E Study

Lee County Department of Transportation required a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study to determine social, economic, natural and physical environmental impacts associated with the extension of CR 951. The process follows procedures set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and federal and state laws and regulations.

DRMP was responsible for the environmental assessment of wetland impacts and prepared the Wetland Evaluation Report (WER) and Endangered Species Biological Assessment (ESBA) reports for the PD&E study conducted for the CR 951 Extension, which involved a new alignment located east of Interstate-75 in northeast Collier County, Florida and Southwest Lee County, Florida.  The limits of the proposed extension are from the existing intersection of CR 951 and Immokalee Road in Collier County to a point along Alico Road in Lee County, approximately 15-miles and a project corridor of 75-square miles.   DRMP provided coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) regarding threatened and endangered species, particularly the Florida Panther. The team used ArcGIS geodatabase to organize layers for analysis, such as wetlands, uplands, panther habitat, residential, public lands, waterways, etc.  DRMP performed field evaluation of wetlands and land use designations.

DRMP’s ecological services provided the required knowledge to make more informed decisions as they continued with the project. The potential environmental conflicts were documented during the study meeting NEPA requirements and signed off by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).