City Planner Faces Loss Of License Over Bad Traffic Counts
BY BUDDY NEVINS
In a case that could impact future development, a city planner faces the loss of her engineering license for underestimating the impact of removing two lanes from a key road.
Christine Fanchi, the City of Fort Lauderdale’s “livability planner” and a professional engineer, is accused of minimizing the effect of removing half the traffic lanes from almost three miles of Northeast Fourth Avenue and Wilton Drive.
Christine Fanchi
The real impact is “intersection failure” at least one location, the state complaint against Fanchi alleges.
Her traffic report called the impact an “acceptable level of service.”
The state administrative case against Fanchi has a potential that reaches far beyond Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors.
There have been accusations for years that city planners underestimate the impact of growth on roads. If activists begin filing complaints against the planners, it could subject their pro-development reports to more scrutiny.
The complaint against planner Franchi was filed by The Florida Board of Professional Engineers. It could result in “permanent revocation or suspension” of her Florida engineering license, states the complaint.
The state regulatory agency says:
* Reducing the Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors road from four lanes to two would increase traffic by 10.4 percent.
* Franchi’s report estimated the impact at 2.3-2.4 percent more traffic.
“The impact of this error is that traffic delays at all intersections in 2035 covered by the report will be materially greater than those set out in the report,” states the complaint.
“The effect of the prospective traffic volume error in the report is most material to the operating of the intersection at (NE) 4th Avenue and (NE) 13th Street. When correct traffic volume data is utilized, the traffic delay at the 4th Avenue and 13th Street intersection is expected to reach a level of Service ‘F’ — a level which represents intersection failure,” the complaint continues.
The bottom line, according to Tallahassee:
Franchi’s report was “not issued in compliance with acceptable engineering principals.”
Franchi has the right to contest the complaint. She could not be reached for comment.
The complaint against Franchi was filed by Boyd Corbin, a Wilton Manors activist who ran three losing races for mayor.
*****
The complaint is here:
Christine Fanchi engineering complaint
April 4th, 2019 at 12:48 pm
With all due respect AS SONEONE WHI OPPOSED THE REDUCTION IN THE LANES and walks this nearby stretch almost daily IT WAS THE AMTI DEVELOOMENT CROWD THAT FOUGHT FOR THE REDUCTION NOT DEVELOOWRS.
April 4th, 2019 at 2:40 pm
“Livability planner” ??????????? Many Fort Lauderdale streets are way past “drivability”. To accomplish “livability”, people must have “drivability”. Common sense says that lane dieting only creates forcing traffic into less space. An exponentially increasing population creates more traffic thus decreasing both “livability” and “drivability”. And our tax money is paying for a “livability planner”/engineer that can’t do math or notice the amount of traffic on the streets? Just another Broward SNAFU episode.
April 4th, 2019 at 4:06 pm
There has been an irrational effort in Fort Lauderdale to reduce the number of traffic lanes. This is “progress” broughabout by Seiler-Feldman. They do this at the same time they approve thousands of apartments and condos worth hundreds of dollars per square foot. I blame them for perverting city hall, not this poor woman who was probably following their orders.
April 4th, 2019 at 4:09 pm
I’m moving to the Villages. Fort Lauderdale has become a misguided corrupt cesspool.
April 4th, 2019 at 5:35 pm
This incompetent planner should face jail time and be stripped of her pension for her dishonest behavior. Or at a minimum be forced to drive north and south daily on Federal Highway from city limit to city limit…..
Boyd Corbin for DOT Secretary!
April 4th, 2019 at 5:59 pm
# 3 u r very persceptive.You r either Ms.Fanchi herself,or someone in this office.
Of course she was taking direction from Me.Feldman.Who took direction from Seiler and the entire previous comm….
April 4th, 2019 at 10:19 pm
..the City has BILLIONS in infrastructure needs n wirhout luxury high rises we wouldnt hsve the tax base to renovate the infrastucture.
FRANKLY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT TRAFFIC TO ME SINCE the 1950s and if you read books or newspapers from the 1930s you’d see the same thing.
If people are really upset.about URBAN TRAFFIC they can move TO INDIAN COUNTRY like Brittany Wallman n Buddy Nevins did to Plantation. OF COURSE THERE IS ALWAYS THE CHANCE OF AN INDIAN WAR PARTY.
FROM BUDDY:
Wallman bought her Plantation home when she moved to Southeast Florida for her job at the Sun-Sentinel in roughly 1999. I moved to Plantation from Hollywood. Neither of us every lived in Fort Lauderdale, although both of us worked in downtown.
April 5th, 2019 at 3:00 pm
How could anyone think it makes sense to reduce lanes for 20,000 vehicles in front of Fort Lauderdale High School and a Home Depot? It’s terrible for the motorists but even worse for the residents in the surrounding neighborhood whose quiet neighborhood streets will become the quickest way out of the congestion. As someone who rides a bike often I can’t understand why city policy isn’t to have dedicated bike paths on neighborhood streets that are parallel to the major roadways.
April 5th, 2019 at 3:22 pm
I would like to know how Mayor Trantalis feels about all this.Since he travels this road everyday to go to his law practice.
April 6th, 2019 at 8:10 am
Just another failed action of the prior party boy Seiler commission, along with nobody needs to drive cars Feldman.
April 6th, 2019 at 9:59 am
Important distinction should be made here. You say she is a City Planner. She is not in terms of this complaint. She is an engineer who specializes in traffic engineering. City planners rely on the expertise of a traffic engineer when making decisions like this. They are not engineers and they cannot sign and seal a traffic study or roadway design plans. If an engineering study states a roadway design meets levels of service requirements the city planner accepts the report unless there is substantial competent evidence saying otherwise.
FROM BUDDY:
I reported she is a planner and an engineer because that is what she (and the city) calls her.
April 6th, 2019 at 11:33 am
#3 above nailed it. Things liked this happen because of folks much higher up in the food chain. Those are the ones who should face conspiracy charges. In my opinion Christine is a victim.
April 7th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
Reminds me of Las Olas, take away a lane for parking. Now I cut behind Cheesecake factory going east to avoid Las Olas backed up traffic.