Three new toll roads across the state? No thank you
A coalition of groups … is now calling on Gov. DeSantis and legislators to restore the river’s natural flow by breaching the dam.
In October, Florida Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault addressed the last meeting of the task force he had appointed to evaluate a northern extension of Florida’s Turnpike — one of the three M-CORES toll roads through rural western Florida authorized by state lawmakers in 2019. In his remarks, Thibault invoked Charles Costar, who successfully lobbied lawmakers in 1953 to pave the way for the Turnpike.
I was a member of that M-CORES task force, representing 1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit that advocates smart growth. The task force was on the verge of issuing our final report on the Northern Turnpike Connector as Thibault told us that “generations of Floridians will look back at this moment as a pivotal time in the state’s history, just like the one that was undertaken by Mr. Costar in 1953.”
I had two thoughts in response: One, should Florida really be recycling a transportation approach from the mid-20th century for the vastly different world of the 21st century? And two, what if M-CORES turns out more like another obsolete transportation idea — the Cross Florida Barge Canal?
Like M-CORES, the Cross Florida Barge Canal was hailed by its promoters as a visionary project that would create jobs and boost Florida’s economy when it was greenlit by the federal government in 1963. But legendary conservation leader Nathaniel Reed, who co-founded 1000 Friends of Florida, recognized the canal as “an environmental disaster and economic boondoggle.” As an adviser to Republican Gov. Claude Kirk and his Democratic successor, Gov. Reubin Askew, Reed helped persuade President Nixon to pull the plug on the project in 1971.
Tragically, serious environmental harm had already been done through construction of a dam for the canal on the Ocklawaha River in north central Florida. Completion of the Rodman Dam in 1968 flooded 7,500 acres of pristine forest, submerged 20 natural springs, destroyed critical habitat, impeded migration for fish and wildlife and created chronic water quality problems upstream and downstream. This disastrous project is taking a heavy toll on Florida’s environment to this day, more than half a century later.
Last year, American Rivers, a national nonprofit, designated the Ocklawaha as one of the 10 most endangered rivers of North America due to the Rodman Dam. A coalition of groups, including 1000 Friends of Florida, is now calling on Gov. DeSantis and legislators to restore the river’s natural flow by breaching the dam.
Like the Cross Florida Barge Canal, M-CORES threatens to leave a legacy of destruction. The Everglades, natural springs, rivers, wetlands, forests, habitat for panther and other endangered wildlife, prime farmland and small towns would all be at risk.
M-CORES task force members recommended steps in our final reports to limit harmful impacts from the roads. But the final reports fell short of protecting the environment and vulnerable communities from development the roads would spur. Indeed, 1000 Friends of Florida remains unconvinced that it’s possible to build a highway network through such sensitive areas without irreversible damage.
Mindful of these risks, 1000 Friends of Florida will be working with allies to urge legislators during their upcoming session to enact more protections from M-CORES for the environment and taxpayers. We’ll be advocating further environmental and financial review of the project, which short-circuited the normal planning process when it was authorized. We’ll be seeking statutory guarantees that more-urgent transportation needs are not preempted by the toll roads. We’ll be promoting more direct and effective assistance for struggling rural communities to create jobs and prosperity without sacrificing the environment, economy and lifestyle that define their appeal for residents and visitors alike.
But first, the multibillion-dollar cost of M-CORES amid a budget crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic demands that legislators reevaluate whether the project is even worth continuing. This is an especially pointed question for members who represent parts of the state, like southeast Florida, that are far from where the toll roads would run. These members’ constituents could be stuck subsidizing the project through their taxes and tolls for decades without enjoying any benefits in return.
Unless legislators rethink M-CORES, tomorrow’s Floridians might look back on the project the same way today’s Floridians look back on the Cross Florida Barge Canal — an environmental disaster and an economic boondoggle.