Judge rules against I-95 interchange in Volusia County. (Jim Saunders, NFSoF, January 30, 2024)

Florida Department of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Early ruled against Volusia County, in a reasoned and documented Recommended Decision and Order.  From News Service of Florida/

Judge rules against I-95 interchange in Volusia County

FDOT did not show interchange is ‘clearly in the public interest,’ judge says

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An administrative law judge Monday ruled that a permit should be denied for a new Interstate 95 interchange in Volusia County because the Florida Department of Transportation did not show it is “clearly in the public interest.”

Judge E. Gary Early issued a 55-page recommended order that said the St. Johns River Water Management District should reject what is known as an environmental resource permit for the proposed interchange between Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach, south of Daytona Beach.

The district last February approved the permit but drew a challenge from the groups Bear Warriors United and the Sweetwater Coalition of Volusia County and two individuals. Early’s decision hinged on a canal in the project area that has been designated an “Outstanding Florida Water.”

Early wrote that the Outstanding Florida Water designation required the Department of Transportation to show the project is “clearly in the public interest.” He said the water management district determined the department met the test because the planned interchange would help with traffic-safety issues such as hurricane evacuation.

The judge, however, wrote that the public-interest test is “limited to interests that are environmental in nature” and that the traffic-safety factors did not determine whether the project met the test.

“But for the public interest test, DOT established that the project meets all relevant ERP (environmental resource permit) criteria,” Early wrote. “If this case did not involve an OFW (Outstanding Florida Water), and if the standard for issuance was whether the project is not contrary to the public interest, the undersigned would have no hesitation in recommending issuance of the permit. However, this case does involve an OFW, and the standard is whether the project is clearly in the public interest.”

As a result, he wrote that “it is concluded that reasonable assurances have not been provided that the activities to be authorized by the permit are clearly in the public interest. Thus, application for (the permit) should be denied.”

Under administrative law, Early’s recommendation will go to the water management district for final action

The proposed 74-acre project would create an interchange at Pioneer Trail, which now has an I-95 overpass, according to Early’s ruling. The project has been considered for years, with the Department of Transportation submitting the permit application to the district in February 2022.

A 2017 Department of Transportation report pointed to the interchange being able to help with growth in the area.

“The purpose and need for the proposed interchange on I-95 at Pioneer Trail is to support the economic viability and job creation associated with planned and approved future development in the vicinity of the study area, reduce congestion at the adjacent I-95 interchanges and to better serve regional trips originating in and destined to the study area,” an executive summary of the report said. “Additionally, Volusia County and the cities of Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach have identified benefits to emergency evacuation conditions that would be realized by an interchange on I-95 at Pioneer Trail.”