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Public scoping workshop scheduled for alternative transportation study at ‘Ding’

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Lee County Transit (LeeTran), in cooperation with its partners, the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge and the City of Sanibel, has been awarded a grant through the Federal Transit Administration under the Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program (ATPPL).

The program is designed to assist national parks and public lands (including wildlife refuges) in managing their visitation, while meeting the primary goal of providing sanctuary habitats for various wildlife. The goals of the ATPPL program are to conserve natural, historical, and cultural resources, reduce congestion and pollution, improve visitor mobility and accessibility and enhance the visitor experience. As one of the most visited refuges in the system, the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge experiences high traffic volumes.

A public scoping workshop will be held this Thursday, Jan. 29 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Sanibel Recreation Center, located at 3880 Sanibel-Captiva Road. The public is invited to attend this workshop to begin exploring appropriate and environmentally-sensitive solutions for managing the volume of visitors and their transportation needs in order to achieve an appropriate balance between an enjoyable visitor experience and the potential resultant disturbance of wildlife. The public is encouraged to attend anytime to talk with the project team and give their input.

In addition, an online survey regarding transportation in the Refuge and how it relates to Sanibel and Captiva islands will be available to the public on the project Web site at www.dingdarlingtransportation.com. We encourage everyone to take the survey.

For more information, contact Kris Cella at Cella Molnar & Associates, Inc., located at 1631 Hendry Street in Fort Myers, by calling 239-337-1071, 1-877-496-1076 (toll-free) or sending an e-mail to kcella@cella.cc.

Source: City of Sanibel