Johnny Martinez leaving state transportation agency to oversee county's massive capital improvements program
In his 22 years with the Florida Department of Transportation, Johnny Martinez has been involved with billions of dollars worth of transportation projects. Most recently as secretary of District Six, he's overseen locally a $2.6 billion five-year work program. Mr. Martinez was tapped this month to take over Miami-Dade County's Office of Capital Improvements beginning Jan. 7 — but saw a major victory in the last moments of his tenure with the state: final approval of the long-planned Port of Miami Tunnel. A major player on the project team, Mr. Martinez worried for months the City of Miami's hesitation to contribute could kill the billion-dollar tunnel plans. Now boasting the city's OK — and its $88 million contribution — the project is to move forward, and Mr. Martinez expects to have a hand in it from the county side. His responsibilities there will also include planning for a Marlins stadium and overseeing the $2.9 billion Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond program. The program has seen delayed projects double since last year, but Mr. Martinez said he plans to use procurement techniques he mastered at the state level to help manage county endeavors. He looks forward, he said, to helping "improve the capital improvements and anything that I can contribute as far as what I've learned in transportation." He was interviewed in his FDOT offices by Miami Today staff writer Risa Polansky.
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