Whether they’re needed or not, Legislature approves three big Florida road projects

Florida’s largest road project in half a century was given a green light Wednesday, after the House voted to send a bill creating three new toll roads to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval.

Overcoming opposition from environmental groups and questions about whether the roads were needed, the House voted 76-36 to start the ball rolling on creating one new toll road and extending one new one.

The bill would extend the Suncoast Parkway to Georgia, extend Florida’s Turnpike to the Suncoast, and build a new toll road from the Naples area toward Interstate 4 near Orlando. Construction would begin in 2022 and be finished by 2030.

No studies have been done about whether the roads are needed, while basic questions about the projects are to be sorted out later.

But the bill was a top priority for Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who said it will help rural parts of the state left behind by a decade of economic expansion.

Others accused lawmakers of merely giving a handout to special interests. The idea for the projects came from the Florida Transportation Builders Association and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and at least two billionaires own massive tracts of land near the potential path of one of the roads.

Because it was a Galvano priority, lawmakers treated the bill like a bargaining chip in the final two weeks of the legislative session.

In apparent exchange for supporting the project, senators approved sweeping changes to the state’s healthcare landscape that were a priority for House Speaker José Oliva, RMiami Lakes.

Senators voted on the road bill last week, with little discussion or debate, and only one, Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, voting against it.

On Wednesday, House members put up more of a fight than their Senate counterparts, and that fact wasn’t lost on Democrats.

“My colleagues have their marching orders,” Rep. Delores Hogan Johnson, D-Fort Pierce, said. “But I pray for them and I pray for us.”