Traffic, lights, noise: FSU/TMH health center’s design plan draws neighborhood concerns

Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare are currently in the design planning stage for a new, state-of-the-art academic health center.

But with its expected proximity to Betton Hills neighborhood homes and a potential road extension being considered, nearby residents worry about heightened traffic, bright lights and loud construction noises.

“Our fear is that as this building comes, if something is not done to manage the traffic, it's just going to be unsafe for not only Betton and Centerville roads but our neighborhood streets that tie in there,” Mike Brezin, a Tallahassee resident who lives in Betton Hills, told the Democrat.

A draft by Moore Bass Consulting, a Tallahassee-based civil engineering firm on the project’s design team, lays out a detailed plan for the center with information about its location.

“The general location of the new project is immediately south of Centerville Road and east of Physicians Drive,” Moore Bass Consulting said in a Site Plan Narrative document dated Jan. 9.

“This site plan depicts a road extension from Surgeon’s Drive to Centerville Road (known as Nurses Drive). This road extension is not proposed under this permit. A separate permit will be submitted for construction of the road, which will be subject to approval of the Canopy Road Citizens Committee.”

Centerville is one of nine designated canopy roads in Tallahassee.

The health center’s placement means a new street would potentially penetrate the canopy on Centerville Road to connect it to the future structure along the busy and narrow two-lane road.

Brezin is also a member and former president of the Betton Hills Neighborhood Association, a group made up of residents living in one of Tallahassee's oldest canopy neighborhoods — located downtown between Thomasville and Centerville roads near TMH.

As he explained how Centerville Road is already backed up in the mornings and in the afternoons, and that the adjacent Betton Road is often backed up in the afternoons all the way from Thomasville Road, he said traffic is the association’s “No. 1 concern."

A revised design will take neighborhood concerns into consideration, and the university expects to have it complete in late May, according to FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis.

The five-story structure will cover 130,000 square feet and is a result of FSU securing $125 million from the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago. FSU and TMH recently signed a memorandum of understanding to put a stamp on their partnership for the future academic health center, slated to open in fall 2026.

Related news: FSU, TMH sign agreement to build new academic health center in Tallahassee

The building will include space for a laboratory, clinical and digital health initiatives. About 350 parking spaces are being proposed for the future center, according to the draft.

Other companies on the project’s design team besides Moore Bass Consulting include HOK, a global engineering and architecture firm and Cumming Group, an international project management and cost consulting firm. Both of the firms have office locations across Florida in cities such as Miami and Orlando.

‘A responsibility to be neighborly’

TMH organized a February meeting — which was led by FSU Chief Construction Officer Sadie Greiner — to give nearby residents of the community a general idea of what the project’s initial plan looked like.

The meeting’s participants were given the floor to share their concerns with the academic health center project’s team.

“It's not that we're expecting perfect quiet through there, but that they just feel a responsibility to be neighborly and to fit into the neighborhood a little better,” Brezin said.

Mayda Williams, a local resident of the Pilckem Ridge community who has been living in Tallahassee for over 40 years, says that sound, light and traffic pollution need to be taken into consideration.

“We’re all for what TMH and FSU are doing because we need more medical training for doctors and nurses here,” said Williams, former owner of the commercial printer company Target Print & Mail. “But we really don’t need that extra volume on Centerville Road since it’s only two lanes there. It’s only going to add salt to the wound.”

If a new road is built, it would be about 200 feet away from her neighborhood’s entrance, which is the only way for cars to get in and out of the neighborhood. The small residential area is filled with upscale, luxury homes just north of Betton Road off Centerville Road.

“There’s also a concern that there might be a whole lot of light pollution that bleeds into our neighborhood,” Williams said, “and then there’s the noise factor. We’re afraid that loud air conditioners and other machines will be on our side — closest to our houses — which will create noise pollution for us when we have a very quiet, midtown neighborhood.”

Williams referred to trash and recycling compactors as well as a cooling tower that would be placed on the back end of the future building to face Centerville Road, according to existing building plans.

She hopes the final design plan of the center will make modifications to ameliorate some of the foreseeable nuisance. The project's design changes have not been announced yet.

“The university continues to gather input related to the new building,” Farnum-Patronis said. “Residents expressed concerns such as noise and traffic, and we have made some design changes based on the feedback.”

She added: “The FSU Health Academic Health Center project is a significant milestone in the university's relationship with TMH. As we are nearing completion of the design development phase, the site has been cleared and we anticipate starting some initial infrastructure work later this summer.”

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Community expresses concerns about new FSU/TMH academic health center