Issues - New Transportation Corridors
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Heartland Corridor
Crist signals break with past on roads
Gov. Charlie Crist doesn't embrace Jeb Bush's Future Corridors plan for new toll roads.By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER and SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published March 6, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - A plan to build a series of massive expressways across rural Florida is getting a cool reception from Gov. Charlie Crist, who said Monday the state instead needs to expand existing roads.
Embraced by Crist's predecessor, Jeb Bush, the Future Corridors project seeks to remake rural parts of the state with new toll roads that would help accommodate future growth. But Crist said Monday the state needs to "prioritize and have roads where the people are and where we need them. Right now, that's South Florida, southeast Florida.
"I want us to expand I-75 south, I-95 south down to Miami and then I-4."
NW FL Transportation Corridor
Special Meeting
NW Florida Transportation Corridor Authority Announces Special MeetingOn April 19th, Clean Water Network of Florida submitted a Petition for an Administrative Hearing to the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority at their monthly meeting. Previously, Clean Water Network had requested information from the Authority regarding opportunities for the public to challenge their plans for new roads across the Panhandle. The Authority never answered our question in writing, but at the March meeting of the Authority, their attorney told the Authority board that the state agency is exempt from Chapter 120 requirements (that is the place in the Florida Statutes that requires state agencies to give the public an opportunity to challenge final agency actions).
The Authority says that their Master Plan Phase II can change over time. That's fine and dandy. But they need to let the public/taxpayers know when they will have an opportunity to raise a legal objection. Please go to our Action Alert page to send an email to the Governor about this issue.
4/5/07 Comments on Master Plan
On Thursday, April 5th, the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority met in Panama City to vote on the proposed master plan for a series of new toll-roads that will weave in and out of eight coastal counties between Escambia County to the West to Wakulla County on the East. About 100 people attended and a couple of dozen spoke. Only one person spoke in favor of the Master Plan that is proposed for the eight counties. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan. You can read the comments that Linda Young read into the record and submitted in writing by clicking here.
Agencies concerned about toll-road idea
Article published Mar 25, 2007 in the Tallahassee Democrat
Proposal is called 'wasteful' and possibly harmful to environment
By Bruce Ritchie, Democrat Staff Writer
A proposed toll road that would extend 30 miles through rural eastern Leon and Wakulla counties is raising numerous concerns with state and federal wildlife and environmental agencies.
Road Rage by Tom McLaughlin
Environmental groups have begun lining up to protest plans the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority is considering to ease traffic on U.S. Highway 98.
Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, termed the authority's call for a new route between Pensacola and Tallahassee "a big scam."
"The whole point is to get infrastructure up there without having to pay for it and make St. Joe's land developable," Young said. "We're going to have to oppose that."
3/1/07 Comments on the NW FL Transportation Corridor
March 2, 2007
Steve Wilson
HDR Engineering
109 Harrison Avenue
Panama City, Florida 32401-2726
Dear Mr. Wilson:
The Clean Water Network of Florida, Inc. offers the following comments regarding the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority's proposed transportation corridors and the final master plan. It appears that the Authority is offering very little time for the public to become familiar with these proposals, digest the scant information they offer and then provide meaningful comments. Your recommendation will apparently will be made between now and March 15th. There is NO OPPORTUNITY for the public to review and comment on your recommendation for the proposed Final Master Plan before it is presented to the Authority for approval on March 15. This gives the impression that the Authority does not really want public input on your recommendation. This leads a citizen to ask what other opportunity exists for meaningful participation in this process? A Chapter 120 hearing? If that is our only other forum, then please let me know as soon as possible when the Authority considers the window to open for a citizen or organization to file a Chapter 120 petition for an administrative hearing.
3/2/07 Comments of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper
2 March 2007
Steve Wilson, Project Manager
HDR Engineering
109 Harrison Avenue
Panama City, FL
RE: Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority - Alternatives & Proposed Final Master Plan
Dear Steve:
Thanks for the opportunity to submit these comments and for your help last week and the week before. On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and the 1,000 members of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper, I submit these comments on the 4 alternatives presented by HDR Engineering as part of Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority (NWFTCA or the Authority) Master Plan Phase process.