Construction Update 4-10-20 (short)
 

This is just a short update video of the construction happenings. I was out and about searching for some essentials and scouting around for things to video when I saw a couple of surprising pieces of progress and thought would be of timely interest and that I'd share with everyone.

The Villages 04-10-20 Construction Update - YouTube

Thank you for sharing.

Don, thank you. I always enjoy seeing these and hearing what is going on, on this one Bradford is most impressive, how they got those homes under roof in 9 days is amazing. I have a question, have you noticed all the trucks hauling dirt down to 470. There is a dirt road going south off of 470, it's west of 501 and trucks are running in and out of there all day long possibly dumping dirt as they did up on 301 and along the Fox golf courses in Fenney. Do you know what is going in down there?

I'm wondering if the Brownwood Woodshop will be a multi-story building.

The Construction Update in today's Daily Sun says, "The elevator pit footer work passed inspection." It can be seen in your video. This would seem to indicate two or more floors.

Thank you
 

Nice update. The Water Lily and Chitty Chatty bridges are coming along well. I believe Chitty Chatty will be installed within the month so as to give “connectivity “ to the villages of both Chitty Chatty and Bradford which should be at least partially occupied in three months or so. We really enjoy these updates. Thank you once again.

Yes, a 2 story building.

I'm glad you were able to get your Ben & Jerry's. :coolsmiley:

Thanks Don, always looking forward to your videos of progress of what’s happening South of 44, especially when it has to do with Magnolia Plaza and progress on a new bridge. This Covid-19 is interfering with our plans to move there but hoping to put our home up for sale in May or June. Looks like we’ll be moving to TV in the summer.

There are many necessities in life, Cherry Garcia is one of them.

How're you able to fly over people/traffic. ie, the Turnpike? Is this legal?

I don't fly over people or vehicles, the perspective you see in the video is anywhere from 100 to 400 feet ahead of the drone depending on altitude and camera angle (a simple geometry problem to solve). In this video all the bridge shots were taken from the south side of the Turnpike.

When and if I do cross the Turnpike it is a very controlled and carefully planned and executed maneuver. I'm physically close enough to the road to watch the traffic and time the crossing so no traffic is beneath the aircraft, I also use the live video feed from the aircraft to watch for the traffic. I normally do it in what is called "sport mode" where the drone can quickly accelerate to 45+MPH to make the crossing quicker. What you don't see is the many aborted crossings and the retakes I do to make a smooth flight. I also do any flights like that on a Sunday when traffic is at its lightest - both people and vehicles.

Yesterday was an exception for flying and I had to be especially watchful because of people and traffic. I was going to fly over the new area of De Luna but there were too many people looking at houses and workers working to do it safely. The shots of Bradford were also carefully shot to make sure I stayed on the south side of Morse and not get over the workers. It's easy to check this because the camera has the ability to look straight down (-90 deg) and you can see your exact location.

So in direct answer to your question, no it is not legal to fly over unprotected people not involved or cars in motion, 14CFR107 prohibits this activity without a waiver. As I've tried to explain, I did not fly over people or vehicles.

Thank you, as always!

As always, great perspective. I wonder if any of the villages closer to 44 will have an alternative route to Brownwood or will it still require a ride to Hillsborough Trail or will it be shorter to go south to Everglades and over?

They will have to go up Morse to Hillsborough Trail for now. It may be quicker later when Meggison Rd is opened to take the MMP that will parallel it.

Interestingly, there is an alternative path that has never been discussed. The developer in 2008 purchased the existing railway right-of-way property that runs from the Rohan Rec Center - west on SR44 to CR143 - west along CR143 to CR44A - west along CR44A to the New Covenant UMC. There is an existing golf cart path that connect New Covenant UMC to the Village of Lake Deaton. The right-of-way continues west of CR44A all the way to Antrium Dells. This is a strip of land about 50 ft wide and in theory they could build a MMP from Rohan RC to Brownwood which would be substantially shorter than any other route. Will it happen, I think it highly unlikely. It would take the CDDs (10?) to purchase the land and then the CDDs (all south of 466) to pay for the 3 miles of MMP from Morse to Buena Vista. Never going to happen.

In the attached picture you can see the narrow strip of land outlined in yellow that goes from Morse Blvd to New Covenant UMC.

A few other things related to the bridges

A recent display ad in the Daily Sun stated that the Village of Chitty Chatty is only 4 miles from Brownwood. They left out the part that is if one uses 44. As inferred above, golf carts will have a much longer distance to travel.

Up near Water Lily, a 2nd larger crane has been moved to the bridge site on the north side of the turnpike, making it a total of 3 cranes available for the project. More importantly, a porta potty has made an appearance at the jobsite on the south side. :) ;)

A few theories about the seemingly slower progress at Water Lily bridge location:

1. With the promotion of the homes and facilities at Chitty Chatty and Bradford, The Villages management team may be somewhat concerned about the other south of 44 residents who've waited a long time for connectivity. They've been waiting a long time for the promised connectivity. he newer residents of Chitty Chatty and Bradford will get their connection rather quickly. The recent activity near Water Lily might just be a pacifier to ward off the complaints.

2. Perhaps there are limited numbers of crews and equipment to make the Water Lily bridge happen. Waiting for the completion of the Chitty Chatty bridge over 44, then moving the crews to the turnpike bridge location.

Not helping anything is the COVID-19 matter, slowing the sale of homes. I've heard that the current inventory of new homes is around 2000 right now.

I don't have any inside information. All speculation on my part.

Mike
Village of Marsh Bend