North Monroe Corridor Enhancement Plan

The North Monroe Corridor Enhancement Plan documents planned improvements, tracks investments, and identifies enhancement strategies for the North Monroe Corridor area.

The evolution of North Monroe Street over the past 50 years has conicided with pattern of growth in Leon County. Prior to the construction of I-10 through Leon County in 1974, Monroe Street north of the Centre at Tallahassee, aka "Tallahassee Mall" functioned as an arterial roadway, providing access to low density single-family subdivisions with associated low-density residential zoning, in addition to land zoned for agricultural use.

Over time, North Monroe Street evolved to provide access to an increasing number of commercial uses, including retail stores, large acre shopping centers and malls, grocery stores, restaurants, financial institutions, offices, hotels, and gas stations and convenience stores. As a result, North Monroe Street was adapted to serve the market demand for interchange-oriented businesses meeting the needs of people traveling on North Monroe and Interstate-10 and the residents and visitors who work or live in the North Monroe area.

Prior to 1971, there was only one commercially zoned property in the vicinity of the I-10/Monroe Street interchange. By 1976 there had been more than 2 rezonings along the corridor in the vicinity of the I-10/Monroe Street interchange.  Much of the commercial development in this area, especially north of the I-10 interchange, consisted of hotel/motels and restaurants that catered to Tallahassee visitors. 

The commercial development steadily continued until the 1990s when almost all of the property was developed commercially. North Monroe Street is an important gateway into the community and acts as a regional transportation corridor between Tallahassee's urban core and areas to the northwest with the I-10 interchange providing connectivity to the east and west.

North Monroe Street is an important gateway into the community and acts as a regional transportation corridor between Tallahassee's urban core and areas to the northwest with an interchange with I-10, providing connectivity to the east and west. Over the years, there have been investments from public, private, and nonprofit sectors that reflect a decade of enhancements that have been completed on North Monroe to rejuvenate the corridor. Private and public investments, task force recommendations, and consideration of additional strategies represent our commitment to ensuring the North Monroe Corridor continues to be a safe area that offers a high quality of life for residents and visitors. This is a living story of the North Monroe Corridor and will be updated as new investments and improvements are made. As we move forward, we will continue to:

• Prioritize investments along the North Monroe Street Corridor to enhance the overall quality of life conditions and to provide opportunities for devleopment and redevelopment.

• Continue to implement and follow up on the North Monroe Task Force's Final Recommendations.

• Continue to have with FDOT, Leon County Sheriffs Department, Tallahassee Police Department and Blueprint and implement informational and educational programs for residents and visitors to enhance the overall conditions of North Monroe Street.

• Continue to encourage and seek out private investment into the North Monroe Corridor.

• Consider land use changes that would improve the North Monroe Corridor during the update the to Land use and Mobility Elements of the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan.

On February 21, 2023, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the North Monroe Corridor Charrette Strategic Initiative (2023-10) to host an intensive, multi-day design charrette (“Charette”) to engage citizens to identify and evaluate a variety of land use/planning strategies and other proposals for the continued improvement of the North Monroe Corridor area. The Charrette took place October 2 to 5, 2023, and resulted in feedback from over 500 community stakeholders. On February 20, 2024, an update and final report was 0presented to the Board of County Commissioners and was accepted.  Findings from the Charrette, accompanied by a staff analysis of land use and planning considerations, are included in the North Monroe Charrette Final Report.  These findings of the Final Report resulted in the following ten Action Items:

The North Monroe Charrette was held from October 2 to 5, 2023. See the survey results below.

To read the the North Monroe Charrette Final Report click the link below.

The Leon County Commission has made North Monroe Corridor a strategic initiative priority. There has been substantial progress made, which can be seen through private and public investments to the corridor. This page will be updated quarterly to reflect the continued investments made to the North Monroe Corridor.