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Commissioner’s Message

City of Fort Lauderdale • District 4

Neighbors,

s your Commissioner, I find myself humbled by the overwhelming support,
community involvement and collaboration during Hurricane Dorian. The City of
AFort Lauderdale was well prepared for this storm, and we certainly couldn't
have done it without your cooperation. I could not be more proud of the amount of
work our citizens, business community and government did to assist in the relief efforts.
However, there is still a large amount of work to be done in the Bahamas. I encourage
you to volunteer your time or donate items to assist our Bahamian neighbors. They have
a long recovery ahead.

Bypass Road Update (Good news!)
The new Port Bypass Road is being designed to follow the originally proposed route
from several years ago. Heading east and starting at the intersection of Federal
Highway and Spangler Boulevard/24th Street (across from State Road 84), it connects
to Eisenhower Boulevard and ends at 17th Street, just west of the Causeway. It will be
Dr. Ben Sorensen
a two-lane road — one lane in each direction — with generous shoulders to
Vice Mayor
District 4 Commissioner accommodate incapacitated vehicles.
As opposed to being a flyover (elevated) roadway, the road will be primarily at normal
street level. It will have two small bridges along the route to accommodate cross traffic
with the Port. The resulting design will maintain all current Port traffic patterns with only
one small change to a service road access point.

New travel lanes are being added to Eisenhower Boulevard in both directions to
accommodate the additional traffic on Eisenhower Boulevard and to ensure the
incoming queuing capacity of the Eisenhower security checkpoint is not reduced. New
lanes are being added to the north of Spangler Boulevard/24th Street. There are
currently no plans to relocate either of the relevant security checkpoints to accommodate
the new road.

Broward County is also working with the Florida Department of Transportation to
reconfigure the intersection of Federal Highway and Spangler Boulevard/24th Street to
separate incoming Port truck traffic onto Miami Road and away from other vehicles.
The road and its intersections are being designed and traffic light cycles will be
programmed to allow for a maximum amount of continuous flow on the Bypass road.

The new road will be a secure corridor through the Port that will not allow drivers
access to the rest of the Port. Drivers will not be required to stop at any Port security
checkpoints to access the Bypass road. It hasn't been decided if the Bypass road will
allow for truck traffic. That decision will be made jointly by Broward County and the
City of Fort Lauderdale.

Fiscal Year 2020 Update
Due to the estimated 8.42% increase in the City's taxable property values and the strategic
balancing strategies developed by City staff, the tentative budget maintains our currently
millage rate of 4.1193 for the 13th consecutive year. The Budget Advisory Board, which
comprises residents from across our City, unanimously voted to recommend the structurally
balanced presentation of the City's Manager's Fiscal Year 2020 Tentative Budget.

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