It’s a fact of Florida political life that the all-powerful presiding officers in the Legislature often get what they want. But that doesn’t mean they should.
Senate President Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican, easily achieved his top priority of three new major toll road projects that will cost billions of dollars by the time they’re supposed to be finished a decade from now.
The House, by a vote of 76 to 36, gave final approval this week to a new expressway from rural Collier County to Polk County; extending the Suncoast Parkway from Crystal River to the Georgia line, and connecting the Suncoast Parkway to the northern end of Florida’s Turnpike in Wildwood.
“Florida has a perimeter of prosperity and an interior of austerity in many places,” Galvano told the Sun Sentinel. “We just need to make sure we’re running on all six cylinders.”
In Galvano’s vision, these aren’t mere ribbons of asphalt. They are “cores,” corridors of regional economic significance that will add hurricane evacuation options, reduce traffic congestion and improve water, sewer and broadband access to underserved areas.
Opponents say the infrastructure improvements will be magnets for suburban sprawl.
Supporters say Florida’s unyielding rate of growth of nearly 1,000 new residents each day justifies a need for more roads.
But the Suncoast Parkway, which begins just north of the Tampa airport and ends in Citrus County, is under-utilized and has fallen short of toll revenue projections. A trip along the Suncoast can be a lonely journey through rural stretches of Pasco and Hernando counties.
The bill (SB 7068) now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his approval, and more than 75 groups, led by the Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Florida, oppose the new toll roads and will urge a DeSantis veto.
“Sprawl is not progress,” the opponents wrote in letters to legislators. “Transit and planning relieve congestion, not building roads.”
DeSantis has questioned Florida’s reliance on toll roads and has emphasized the need to reduce gridlock in the urban centers of South Florida, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, where these three new corridors won’t provide relief.
Most House Democrats, led by Rep. Margaret Good of Sarasota, rightly raised questions about the new roads, and tried without success to bolster protections for wildlife, wetlands and farmland. The legislation requires a task force for each road project to analyze their impacts on the environment.
In his first months in office, DeSantis’ emphasis on environmental protection has been well-received by Floridians. He can build on that momentum with a veto message that will state the obvious: The Legislature simply has not made the case for these new roads.
The expansion of state highways — especially toll roads — must be the result of careful long-range planning and not left to the whims of powerful lawmakers.
Not only that, but “the state’s unique natural environment is central to our economy, our quality of life and our identity as Floridians.”
Who said that? DeSantis — in his State of the State address in March. This bill is an opportunity for him to back up his words with action.
