This process is mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and State law. It represents a combined effort by technical professionals who analyze information and document the best alternative for a community's transportation needs.

This Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study involves evaluating various alternatives that will provide sufficient capacity to accommodate future travel demand through the corridor. Because of a variety of known natural, cultural and environmental resources along the corridor, the concept of “Context Sensitive Design” will play an important role in the evaluation of various improvement alternatives. Preliminarily, the project has been divided into three segments: western terminus at 25th Street to the North Fork of the St. Lucie River (Segment One); North Fork of the St. Lucie River to Oleander Avenue (Segment Two); and Oleander Avenue to U.S. Highway 1 (Segment Three).

St. Lucie County has recently completed the design for the widening of 25th Street north of Midway Road, and FDOT has completed design for improvements to U.S. Highway 1 in the vicinity of the project. Within the project limits, Midway Road exists as a two-lane undivided roadway, with the exception of the extreme western limits of the project where the roadway begins to widen to a four-lane divided section as it approaches 25th Street in the westbound direction. The existing roadway has exclusive turn lanes only at 25th Street, Oleander Avenue and in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 1. The existing bridge across the North Fork of the St. Lucie River can only effectively accommodate two lanes of traffic, and will have to be reconstructed with any widening of the roadway. Access management is an issue throughout the project, but is of most concern on Segment Two, which has many side street and driveway connection. Access to the commercial parcels on the west and east limits of the project, as well as around the Oleander Avenue intersection are also of concern. The total length of the roadway section is approximately 1.0 mile.

The PD&E study will evaluate the following:

• Widening the existing portions of Midway Road along Sections One and Three from two lanes to four-lanes-divided.
• Widening the existing bridge to accommodate four-lanes divided and/or potentially ultimate six-lanes-divided.
• Examining various alignment alternatives as the roadway crosses the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.
• Examining a variety of alternatives to improve capacity on Segment Two. In addition to examining a standard widening from two lanes to four-lanes-divided, other potential, more “context-sensitive” alternatives will be explored.
• Examining other network improvements outside of the corridor that may assist in diverting some of the traffic demand off of the project segment such that more locally desirable alternatives may be feasible.
• Other anticipated improvements will include modifications to the existing storm water management system, intersection improvements at key intersections, pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, access management, street lighting and potentially on-street parking along some sections.