Hundreds flock to meeting on turnpike extension
CHIEFLAND — If the Florida Department of Transportation and the Legislature were dentists, there is no doubt they have hit a nerve during their research mission to extend Florida’s Turnpike to the northwest from Wildwood to U.S. Highway 19.
On Tuesday, about 1,000 people attended a public meeting to look at large displays and PowerPoint videos that detailed why the northern turnpike extension was needed and more details about where the road would run if approved by lawmakers.
But what this “Northern Turnpike Extension Public Kickoff Meeting,” as it was billed by Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, revealed is that the issue is still divisive. No one wants it in their backyard and only a few see the benefits in relieving traffic congestion.
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, which falls under the Florida Department of Transportation, unveiled four possible routes several weeks ago. Three of those routes touch southwestern Marion County, though not as intrusively as a plan ditched in 2019.
On a beautiful Tuesday evening at the College of Central Florida’s
Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus on U.S. 19, five miles north of Chiefland, mostly Levy County residents came out by the carload, many with signs declaring they don’t want the new road.
The meeting had an open house format. Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise had a large staff on hand to cordially listen to residents and show them charts and graphs on easels.
There were no formal discussions. Residents had no microphones to speak their minds. Instead, people wandered throughout the immaculate campus, sharing how one route or another would destroy their land and/or neighborhood.
Angela Starke, director of communications for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, said Tuesday that the agency is conducting research, as requested by the Legislature, which passed Senate Bill 100.
People can go to the agency website https://floridasturnpike. com/NTE.
The bill states that the Florida Department of Transportation will conduct a study to determine the best route from “its northerly terminus in Wildwood to a logical and appropriate terminus,” which has been identified as U.S. 19.
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise is working on gathering information on the four routes. The Florida Department of Transportation is expected to present a completed study and recommendation to the Legislature by late 2022.
“This is the beginning of the early stages of this process,” Stake said on Tuesday. “So tonight we are looking at collecting comment cards from people, talking with people, getting public input and public feedback about this project.”
She noted that the agency has identified four alternative potential corridors.
“And by identifying those corridors will allow us to figure out which one might be best that we move to the PDT process,” she said.
Dan and Linda Evans stood in the large lobby of CF’s Levy campus building and shared how one of the routes, dubbed Alternate Corridor North A, would come close to their Levy home in Steeplechase Farms subdivision in Morriston.
Linda stood directly in the middle of the lobby, holding two signs. One had “Not This” printed on top of an enlarged Star-Banner photograph of Interstate 75 traffic. The other sign said “This,” which unveiled scenic wildlife photos from her area.
Her husband, Dan, also held a sign that read in part: “No Toll Roads.”
Stewart Leland and his wife, Karen, also walked around the campus looking at signs.
“It will only be a few miles from our house,” said Karen Leland, who added they just retired in Pennsylvania and purchased their forever home. “A lot of our neighbors say it will got through their property and they would have to move.”
One unidentified woman, who said she lives on many acres in Levy County, said that the previous Suncoast Parkway study came to the conclusion in 2018 that Interstate 75 should be expanded to solve traffic woes.
“Our state roads are already so unkempt,” she noted. “Why build another one when they haven’t maintained I-75?”