http://folioweekly.com/stories/backroom-deal,21070
RECORD EDITORIAL: Toll roads more boondoggle than boon
Posted Apr 29, 2019 at 9:16 PM
Updated Apr 29, 2019 at 9:16 PM
St. Augustine Record
Florida’s Senate has committed more than $300 million over the next four years to study a plan for three new toll roads which, according to opponents, are not needed. And, it’s doubtful that the $300 million will be used studying the good, bad and ugly of the three projects. They will, instead, establish the exact routes through nowhere — where lucrative on- and off-ramps will be placed based on the highest political bidder.
The three projects are being sold as pathways to economic growth in Florida’s small, rural counties. It may surprise lawmakers, but a majority of residents in these counties seem to be fine just as they are. They can drive an hour or two and get a firsthand look at their future in any of the state’s metro corridors.
It’s the “build them and they will come” frame of mind.
Florida’s environmental groups and agricultural interests are fighting the plan hard. On the other side, the big supporters are the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Trucking Association, the Florida Ports Council and the Asphalt Contractor’s Association of Florida.
The $300 million over the next four years won’t draw a map, clear a stump or drain a swamp. It’s only for the study. Experts say the state will then borrow billions to construct these arteries of sprawl.
One would connect the Tampa metropolitan area to the Georgia border. Why? FDOT’s long-range plans are (were) to expand the carrying capabilities of metro areas already clogged with traffic. Jacksonville is a good example, though if we’ve learned anything from the construction there, it’s that you can’t out-build growth in an area as hot as Northeast Florida.
The project is being pushed onto taxpayers with absolutely no price tag, no set route and, most perplexing, no real reason.
We’re told that they’ll bring an economic windfall to the small communities they come close to — and jobs where opportunity magically bursts forth from an asphalt cloverleaf on/off ramp.
Take a look at the economic development off the U.S. 1 ramp south of St. Augustine. Its claim to fame is becoming Florida’s No. 1 tacky off-ramp, with neon signs and business that sell pecan rolls, rubber gators and grapefruit ... now and then. There are no high-paying jobs. But there is a future connection for urban sprawl.
When pressed for real reasons for the plan, the Senate — which passed the bill 39-1 — tells us they’ll make hurricane evacuations quicker and safer. That’s likely true.
But it’s also true that these toll roads will cut through some of the state’s most valuable ecological treasures, including areas with high concentrations of natural springs.
Environmentalists say the three projects would jeopardize 5.4 million acres of farms and rural lands.
Might the billions be better spent armoring against hurricanes rather than running from them and coming home to disaster?
Finally, the Senate bill authorizes the FDOT to borrow the billions needed for construction even if its engineers determine the roads won’t generate sufficient income to make the annual debt payments for 30 years.
And, if the past is any indicator, the difference will be made up by increasing sweeps of dedicated trust funds such as those for conservation spending and workforce housing.
This simply isn’t a plan to be concocted knee-jerk by a first-year Senate President — or anyone else, for that matter.
The Florida Department of Transportation might be a better judge of the projects that need prioritization over the next three decades than Senate President Bill Galvano and his cronies.
It’s a sucker’s bet the House will make any move to slow the momentum. That leaves Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the legislation. We’ll see exactly what he’s made of. The bill runs headlong into his early priorities. It may be the biggest showdown between the legislature and the Governor in a decade.
It’s political whim with drastic, real-life consequences if passed. And it binds future legislatures and taxpayers to at least three decades of debt.
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