April 22, 2019
The Honorable Senate
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399
RE: Oppose proposed toll roads –SB 7068/HB 7113
To the Florida Senate:
The fifty-six (56) below-signed
organizations ask that you oppose legislation that seeks to construct three
toll roads through rural Florida. These highways will not reduce traffic or provide safety during
hurricane events.
1000 Friends of
Florida found in its Florida 2070 report that Florida is on track to increase developed land
to a full third of the State in the next half century. Sprawl is not progress.
These toll roads will cost Florida hundreds of thousands of acres of farms and
rural lands and fragment landscape and wildlife habitat. The intended “benefits” of these toll roads
include water and sewer infrastructure which, with on and off ramps, will
accelerate urban sprawl.
This legislation would
carve three corridors through Florida’s undeveloped areas:
- "Southwest-Central Florida Connector" extending from Collier County to Polk County; a previous highway planned for the route was called the Heartland Parkway
- "Suncoast Connector" extending from Citrus County to Jefferson County
- "Northern Turnpike Connector" extending from the northern terminus of the Florida Turnpike northwest to the Suncoast Parkway
Building these roads
will be very expensive. The funding would grow from $45 million next fiscal year to $90
million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, about $135 million the next year, and a
recurring amount of $140 million starting in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. And that’s just for planning. Billions will be
bonded to actually build hundreds of miles of limited access highways. Florida
will be paying off the debt for more than a generation instead of funding
education, healthcare, or needed infrastructure for wastewater,
drinking water, and the roads and bridges we already have.
These
hugely expensive road projects and accompanying urban sprawl will devastate
habitat for the Florida Panther and dozens of other endangered and threatened
Florida species. They will destroy important wetlands, forests, springs,
and aquifer recharge areas from Florida Bay to the Georgia border even though they would
not serve an identified transportation purpose. In fact, the FDOT Interstate 75 Relief Task Force recommended in 2016 that rather
than new roads, a better approach was expanding the vehicle capacity of the
interstate and connecting highways.
Transit and planning relieve congestion,
not building roads. Relieving congestion in urban areas requires a focus on transit. The
American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2016 Report Card notes that only 2% of Floridians’ commutes to
work were made by public transit and that Florida needs to develop and connect
its transit networks with an additional $1.3 billion investment.
Road building is not a
sustainable economic development strategy for rural communities. In fact, these roads will route traffic away
from communities established on existing roads, harming their economies.
New tollways through west-central Florida are
not the answer to hurricane preparedness.
Floridians need more
safe spaces in their communities to shelter during storms; only 42% of schools
are designated hurricane shelters, indicating many schools do not meet the
structural requirements. Providing safe shelters for evacuees is a more practical and
affordable response to extreme weather events than new toll expressways.
We urge you to spend
Florida tax payer dollars wisely and reject the toll roads.
Sincerely,
1000 Friends of
Florida
Thomas Hawkins, Policy &
Planning Director
Aquatics for Life
Susan Steinhauser, President
Audubon Everglades
Scott Zucker, Vice President &
Conservation Co-Chair
ASBRO LLC.
E. Allen Stewart
III, P.E. Managing Partner
Bullsugar Alliance
Alex Gillen, Policy Director
Center for Biological
Diversity
Jaclyn Lopez, Florida Director
Catalyst Miami
Gretchen Beesing, CEO
Chart 411
Lucinda Johnston, Executive Director
City of Seminole
Community Garden
Mary Ann Kirk, Garden Coordinator
Clean Water Coalition of Indian
River County
Judy Orcutt, Vice President
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Nicole Johnson, Director of
Environmental Policy
Conservation Foundation of the
Gulf Coast
Christine P. Johnson, President
Defenders of Wildlife
Kent L. Wimmer, AICP, Senior Representative
Englewood
Indivisible
Jane Hunter, Leader
Environmental
Confederation of Southwest Florida (ECOSWF)
Becky Ayech, President
Environment
Florida
Jennifer Rubiello, State Director
Florida Bay
Forever - Save Our Waters
Elizabeth Jolin, Director
Florida
Conservation Voters
Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director
Florida Native Plant Society
Susan Carr, President
Florida Native
Plant Society, Conradina Chapter
Carol Hebert, President
Florida PIRG
Matt Casale, Transportation Campaign
Director
Florida Voices for Health
Scott Darius, Executive Director
Florida Water Conservation Trust
Terry Brant, Legislative Chairman
Forging
Alliances, Inc.
Alexander Easdale, Owner/Principal
Friends of the Everglades
Philip Kushlan, President
Hands Along The Water
Samantha Gentrup, President
Ichetucknee Alliance, Inc.
John D. Jopling, President
Indivisible Clay
County
Sandy Goldman, Chair
Indivisible Mandarin
Karen Droege, Chair
International Dark Sky Association,
FL Chapter
Diana Umpierre, Chair
Izaak Walton
League of America, Florida Keys Chapter
Michael F. Chenoweth, President
League of Women
Voters of Florida
Patricia Brigham, President
Lobby
For Animals
Thomas Ponce,
Founder/President
Martin County Conservation
Alliance
Donna Melzer, Chair
Miakka Community
Club
Cathy Lewis
NW St. Johns
County United for Progress
Richard Chapman, President
Our Santa Fe
River, Inc.
Michael Roth, President
Peace Justice
Sustainability Florida
Alice Wujciak, Member Activist
Peacehome
Campaigns
David Gibson, Organizing Director
Pelican Island
Audubon
Richard Baker, Ph.D., President
Progress Florida
Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director
Rainbow River Conservation, Inc.
Burton Eno, PhD, President
Rebah Farm
Carol Ahearn, Owner
Responsible Growth Management
Coalition
Connie Langmann, President
Sanibel Captiva Conservation
Foundation
Rae Ann Wessel, Natural Resource
Policy Director
Santa Fe Lake
Dwellers Association Inc. (SFLDA)
Jill McGuire, President
Save the Manatee
Club
Katie Tripp, Ph.D., Director of
Science and Conservation
Seminole United
Methodist Church Community Garden
Bob Huttick, Garden Coordinator
Sierra Club Florida
Frank Jackalone, Chapter Director
South Florida Wildlands Association
Matthew Schwartz, Executive Director
Space Coast Progressive Alliance
Philip E. Stasik, President
Speak Up Wekiva, Inc.
Chuck O’Neal, President
Springs Eternal
Project
John Moran, Co-director
St. Johns
Riverkeeper
Lisa Rinaman, Riverkeeper
Stone Crab Alliance
Karen Dwyer, Ph.D., Co-founder
Sunshine Citizens, Inc.
Christopher Vela, President
