ULI panel: treat road elevation as one tool, prioritize safety, funding and regional coordination
March 15, 2024 | Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida
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An expert advisory panel convened by the Urban Land Institute presented a set of recommendations to the City of Fort Lauderdale on strategies for road‑elevation and broader flood resilience. Lauren Callahan, senior director of advisory services for the Urban Land Institute, opened the session and said the panel conducted a site tour, more than 40 stakeholder interviews and public listening sessions as part of a rapid advisory engagement.
Panel chair Jim Hyde summarized the assignment and framed the core guidance: "The first was that just elevating the roads would not create an enduring solution for resilience," he said, urging a multidisciplinary approach that couples street elevation with stormwater, utility upgrades and neighborhood‑scale measures. Hyde and other panelists said road elevation should be treated as a last resort in many places and integrated into a broader resilience strategy.
Why it matters: Fort Lauderdale faces coastal and rain‑driven flood risk that is already producing property damage in some neighborhoods. Hannah Glosser of HR&A Advisors said the April 2023 event left about 270 homes in the Edgewood neighborhood with major damage, and argued the city should "establish resilience as the priority" so investments protect people and vulnerable communities first.
Recommendations and criteria: The panel organized its guidance into four parts—preparations before any elevation work, criteria to choose roads, funding options, and implementation roles and programs. Allison Anderson, an architect with Unabridged Architecture, outlined a 10‑criterion screening approach led by two threshold tests: (1) Is the roadway critical for emergency access or essential facilities? and (2) Is the roadway within the 100‑year floodplain? Additional criteria include adjacent building damage history, frequency of king‑tide flooding, number of people served, whether the road serves disadvantaged communities, neighborhood support, potential to catalyze co‑benefits, and whether other measures have already been installed.
On public safety and design: "Public safety is the top priority," Anderson said, and the panel recommended that critical evacuation routes be designed above FEMA base flood elevations with an added margin so roads remain passable during emergency events. Byron Sticky, a civil engineer, recommended scoping and feasibility studies that include concept design, harmonization with adjacent properties, and stormwater redesign (oversized pipes, injection wells, or subsurface storage) so elevation does not simply shift flood impacts elsewhere.
Funding and program design: Malika Rivers, a consultant on public‑private financing, urged Fort Lauderdale to bundle projects, build coalitions across city, county and private partners, and position projects to compete for federal discretionary grants (including programs tied to recent infrastructure legislation). "There's trillions of dollars out there, and it's going to communities that are planning and strategic," Rivers said, recommending special purpose districts, local assessments, real‑estate transfer mechanisms and clear capital stacks to meet typical federal match requirements.
Policy and governance: Sharnell Hicks recommended a unifying flood‑resilience policy to guide investment decisions, greater transparency in prioritization, and ongoing community engagement. Panelists also called for programs to help households relocate or retrofit, disclosure of street flooding at sale or permitting, and maintenance and financing mechanisms so investments endure.
Public response and next steps: Commissioner Glassman thanked the panel and said she will raise the recommendations at the next city commission meeting. Dr. Nancy Gassman, assistant public works director, said staff worked closely with the panel, that the presentation was recorded and will be posted on the city's YouTube channel and a dedicated road‑elevation web page, and adjourned the session. The panel left the city with a written report to follow, and public works was asked to consider the rubric and next steps.
No formal vote or ordinance was taken during the meeting; the session was a presentation followed by questions and public comments.
Panel chair Jim Hyde summarized the assignment and framed the core guidance: "The first was that just elevating the roads would not create an enduring solution for resilience," he said, urging a multidisciplinary approach that couples street elevation with stormwater, utility upgrades and neighborhood‑scale measures. Hyde and other panelists said road elevation should be treated as a last resort in many places and integrated into a broader resilience strategy.
Why it matters: Fort Lauderdale faces coastal and rain‑driven flood risk that is already producing property damage in some neighborhoods. Hannah Glosser of HR&A Advisors said the April 2023 event left about 270 homes in the Edgewood neighborhood with major damage, and argued the city should "establish resilience as the priority" so investments protect people and vulnerable communities first.
Recommendations and criteria: The panel organized its guidance into four parts—preparations before any elevation work, criteria to choose roads, funding options, and implementation roles and programs. Allison Anderson, an architect with Unabridged Architecture, outlined a 10‑criterion screening approach led by two threshold tests: (1) Is the roadway critical for emergency access or essential facilities? and (2) Is the roadway within the 100‑year floodplain? Additional criteria include adjacent building damage history, frequency of king‑tide flooding, number of people served, whether the road serves disadvantaged communities, neighborhood support, potential to catalyze co‑benefits, and whether other measures have already been installed.
On public safety and design: "Public safety is the top priority," Anderson said, and the panel recommended that critical evacuation routes be designed above FEMA base flood elevations with an added margin so roads remain passable during emergency events. Byron Sticky, a civil engineer, recommended scoping and feasibility studies that include concept design, harmonization with adjacent properties, and stormwater redesign (oversized pipes, injection wells, or subsurface storage) so elevation does not simply shift flood impacts elsewhere.
Funding and program design: Malika Rivers, a consultant on public‑private financing, urged Fort Lauderdale to bundle projects, build coalitions across city, county and private partners, and position projects to compete for federal discretionary grants (including programs tied to recent infrastructure legislation). "There's trillions of dollars out there, and it's going to communities that are planning and strategic," Rivers said, recommending special purpose districts, local assessments, real‑estate transfer mechanisms and clear capital stacks to meet typical federal match requirements.
Policy and governance: Sharnell Hicks recommended a unifying flood‑resilience policy to guide investment decisions, greater transparency in prioritization, and ongoing community engagement. Panelists also called for programs to help households relocate or retrofit, disclosure of street flooding at sale or permitting, and maintenance and financing mechanisms so investments endure.
Public response and next steps: Commissioner Glassman thanked the panel and said she will raise the recommendations at the next city commission meeting. Dr. Nancy Gassman, assistant public works director, said staff worked closely with the panel, that the presentation was recorded and will be posted on the city's YouTube channel and a dedicated road‑elevation web page, and adjourned the session. The panel left the city with a written report to follow, and public works was asked to consider the rubric and next steps.
No formal vote or ordinance was taken during the meeting; the session was a presentation followed by questions and public comments.
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