Guest Editorials
May 2021
Four developments in the final days of Florida’s 2021 Legislature | Editorial
Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board
Excerpt: Did legislators come to their senses? A simpler answer is that the plan’s chief supporter in 2019, then-Senate President Bill Galvano of Bradenton, is no longer in office. Florida taxpayers can breathe a sigh of relief; extending the Suncoast Parkway to the Georgia border, and the Florida Turnpike to the Suncoast, while building a new corridor between Polk and Collier counties, was a major financial risk and a concept that many locals objected to for the disruption and environmental degradation it would cause. If Gov. Ron DeSantis signs off, the Department of Transportation can redirect its focus and resources to more pressing problems, such as fixing the bottleneck where the turnpike intersects Interstate 75 near Wildwood.
Welcome to Florida: Florida’s worst idea (the Everglades Jetport)
Podcast with Craig Pittman
St. Pete Catalyst
Excerpt: This week’s episode begins with Craig’s concern that Florida could be facing another “Summer of Slime” due to blue green algae and red tide (cow tide) outbreaks. We also talk about corruption in the state legislature and the death – mostly – of M-CORES (Roads to Ruin). Our guest is author Mike Grunwald, who wrote “The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida and the Politics of Paradise.” Our conversation focuses on the worst idea ever in Florida: the Everglades Jetport.
April 2021
The Florida Legislature actually did something right
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: Senate Bill 100, now awaiting a vote in the House, would repeal the worst of the toll road boondoggle that was the Legislature’s going-away gift to then-Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, two years ago. It does away with the unnecessary and environmentally destructive Heartland Parkway route between Polk and Collier counties, which never had met the state’s objective criteria for determining need. The bill retains parts of the 2019 bill in that it calls for improvements to U.S. 19 along the Gulf Coast and for an unspecified extension of the Florida Turnpike past its Wildwood intersection with I-75. This bill’s prospects look very good, but with the Florida Legislature nothing can be taken for granted. The plucking of Galvano’s toll roads turkey would be a public victory on a par with the environmentalist campaign that halted construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal four decades ago.
Stop robbing Florida priorities like tourism funding needed to bolster state’s No. 1 biz
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Excerpt: Why are lawmakers setting up death matches between the state’s top priorities instead of looking for ways to fund them both — while, in the meantime, many lawmakers remain committed to boondoggles like the unnecessary, multi-billion-dollar plan to ram toll roads through sensitive and now vacant land? We’d love to hear an explanation. RIght now, we’re baffled.
Florida Senate approves a sensible toll road bill. The House should follow.
Editorial
Palm Beach Post, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Gainesville Sun
It’s not very often that we can put the words “Florida Legislature” and “sensible” in the same sentence. Not when state lawmakers are in the habit of pushing legislation making it harder to vote or constricting the powers of local governments. The Florida Senate’s passage of SB 100 is a most unusual exception to the rule.
This is no time to raid affordable housing funds
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Excerpt: But why is the Sadowski fund the only source Sprowls and Simpson are considering? There are other big-ticket items in the budget, including a ruinously expensive and absolutely unneeded plan to drive 330 miles of proposed new toll roads through undeveloped, rural communities. That should be targeted first.
March 2021
Tallahassee vs. The People of Florida
By Pam Daniel
Sarasota Magazine
Excerpt: Just look at some laws they’ve proposed this session. Cities would lose the right to regulate short-term rentals and “party houses” that ruin long-established neighborhoods. New toll roads would speed development in rural communities that don’t want it.
Parkway extension needs push forward
Editorial
Citrus County Chronic
The turnpike extension from Wildwood just doesn’t make a lot of sense. We know the overcrowding on I-75 has flummoxed lawmakers for years as how to alleviate the high volumes of traffic, but isn’t that why they’re building the Suncoast Parkway?
We urge lawmakers to push forward with revised plans for extending the parkway, but we urge them to reconsider extending the turnpike.
South Florida 100: March 9 is Election Day for many cities in South Florida
Staff Report
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most important issues affecting you…Howard Simon, retired executive director, ACLU of Florida: Last week: Can the Legislature reverse course on a plan to build three toll roads through 330 miles of ecologically sensitive parts of rural western and northwestern Florida? The plan, M-CORES (The Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance), was signed by Gov. DeSantis in 2019 and propped up by propaganda that it will revitalize the area and encourage job creation in rural communities. Three advisory planning boards reported that it was not needed and cited the plan’s cost of billions of dollars. Its impact on a pandemic-stricken budget could be the face-saving exit. This week, a Senate committee approved cutting back on the program.
Florida Legislature is attacking local progress on climate
By Mark Paul and Sean Sellers
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: Third, the Legislature should address emissions in the transportation sector, including halting plans to build three massive and unnecessary toll roads through rural Florida.
Legislature needs to step back on toll roads
Editorial
Port Charlotte Sun
Supporters of the MCORES toll road project are considering a compromise to the multibillion-dollar, decade-long project. But one compromise being floated — killing one-third of the road plan — makes no sense to us.
February 2021
Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida politics — 2.28.21
By Joe Henderson
Florida Politics
Excerpt: Losers: Dishonorable mention: Bill Galvano. As Senate President, he wanted three controversial toll road projects approved before he left office two years ago. He pushed, prodded, and finally carried the day. However, the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted to repeal that legislation. As Florida Politics reported, “that’s the first step in effectively killing all three toll roads.”
DeSantis’ budget on algae blooms offers plenty of irony
By Craig Pittman
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: DeSantis wants to spend $1 billion over four years helping local governments be “resilient” in the face of climate change — albeit without ever actually using the term “climate change.” Yet he also wants to spend $700 million on three new toll roads nobody wants, thus increasing the car and truck traffic that produces emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Ironic, isn’t it?
DeSantis surprises with his Maybe-Things-Aren’t-As-Bad-As-
By Mark Lane
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Excerpt: Despite all the pandemic-related bad news in the next budget year, there are pockets of relief out there for the Legislature to explore without whacking schools…And it could drop an unpopular toll-roads-to-nowhere program. There, that was $738 million over five years in last year’s budget.
January 2021
Florida cannot afford, and doesn’t need, three new toll roads through the boondocks
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Paving pristine rural areas for three politically-motivated toll roads made no sense even before the coronavirus raged across Florida.
Three new toll roads across the state? No thanks
By Paul Owens
South Florida Sun Sentinel
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.
Floridians need to do more to protect water, land and wildlife in 2021
By Rob Moher
Port Charlotte Sun
Excerpt: The plan already has cost our cash-strapped state millions of dollars, yet legislators and the governor continue to back a toll road project that would jeopardize threatened and endangered species, including the Florida panther. It’s time to reverse course and save Floridians from these “roads to ruin.”
M-CORES options for new highways threaten another environmental debacle
By Barbara Hill
Leesburg Daily Commercial
While we are all distracted by the coronavirus, and rightly so, we are losing sight of what other disasters are awaiting us especially with the legislature scheduled to meet in a few months.
Guest opinion: Upping the ante to protect water, land and wildlife in 2021
By Rob Moher
Fort Myers News-Press
Excerpt: In 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) into law, which includes the Southwest-Central Florida Connector. The law bypasses the well-established transportation planning process and was met with sharp resistance from Florida residents, conservation and civic groups, local governments and businesses. The plan already has cost our cash-strapped state millions of dollars, yet legislators and the governor continue to back a toll road project that would jeopardize threatened and endangered species, including the Florida panther. It’s time to reverse course and save Floridians from these “roads to ruin.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ midterm report card: D-minus
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: He foolishly endorsed three new toll roads unwanted by their communities.
December 2020
Stop the rush on toll roads
Editorial
Gainesville Sun via Daytona Beach News-Journal
At long last, Floridians have official acknowledgment of a point many have been making for nearly two years: State leaders were moving much too fast with plans to drive hundreds of miles of new toll roads through largely uninhabited wilderness and farmland.
November 2020
Florida’s latest massive toll plan is a pain in the asphalt
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
There are some certainties about life in Florida. Summers are hot. Spring breakers come to party. And politicians will try to pave over every last inch of this great state.
How ‘DeathSantis’ could become ‘Governor Green’
By Craig Pittman
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: Put the brakes on the three expensive toll roads: Last year, when then-Senate President Bill Galvano paid back his campaign contributors at the Florida Transportation Builders Association by pushing the toll roads bill through the Legislature, your stated reason for signing it was, “I think we need new roads in Florida to get around.”… You should call a press conference in front of the panther habitat at ZooTampa. Thank the advisory committee members for their hard work, then announce that you’re directing the DOT to shelve the whole thing. You can explain that this project is too destructive to the environment, too unfocused without a lot more study, and too expensive to undertake when the state is strapped for cash.
Florida’s true state insect: the progress bug
By Michael Stephens
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: While endemic throughout Florida, the most dramatic progress bug infestation in many years has seen the usual piecemeal environmental degradation give way to toll road mania. According to Tallahassee roadologists, all the locals will become millionaires, and sugary cake sprinkles will rain from the sky. No doubt there will be new millionaires and billionaires, but most will be folks with connections, or who just happen to own land in the right spot. The average Joe will be lucky to profit enough to buy a good pair of earplugs.
Toll road plan needs to go away
Editorial
Port Charlotte Sun
When it was first proposed, there was some merit to legislation to build three new toll roads that would make it easier for Floridians to get from the bottom of the state to the top.
Interior road network shouldn’t be rushed into existence, or dismissed entirely
Editorial
Naples Daily News
There shouldn’t be a headlong rush to build miles of new toll roads through the interior of Florida.
With a budget $5.4 billion in the red, Florida lawmakers have tough choices to make
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Excerpt: We were glad to hear Simpson question the need for one wasteful and unnecessary expenditure: As the Florida Phoenix reports, he told reporters that the Senate would examine a “toll roads to nowhere” plan to run high-speed highways through unpopulated areas, opening millions of acres of Florida’s wildlands to development by a handful of wealthy investors. Cutting the project – known as M-CORES, for Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance – would put at least $100 million back on the table this year. That money could go a long way in a session where lawmakers will be contemplating genuinely painful cuts. Florida didn’t need this project in the first place, and the state really can’t afford it now.
Toll-road plans fall short on wildlife protection, urban sprawl
By Paul Owens
Orlando Sentinel
With so much attention on this year’s election, another consequential date for Florida’s future has been overshadowed.
Turnpike connector through Inverness doesn’t make sense
Editorial
Citrus County Chronicle
For decades, leadership in the city of Inverness has envisioned a “small town done right,” working diligently to maintain balance between a vibrant and emerging small city, while retaining hometown intimacy among its citizenry.
October 2020
Nature of Things: Still no public mandate for toll road from Polk to Collier counties
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
Now that the task force meetings involving a proposal to build a toll road between Polk County and the Naples area have concluded, it’s time to take stock.
Despite budget crisis, Florida is doubling down on costly and destructive plans
By Nicole Johnson
Fort Myers News-Press
Like so many Floridians facing the current public health crisis, the state of Florida itself is wrestling with a budget shortfall. That shortfall is estimated at $2.7 billion dollars.
Floridians would benefit it waterways are protected
By Joseph Bonasia
Florida Times-Union
Excerpt: In it, he identified some of the environmental concerns all Floridians are familiar with: the explosion of red tides and blue-green algae blooms, the draining of our springs and aquifers by big corporations, the “totally useless” M-CORES project that makes money for road-builders and developers but which will wreak havoc on rural lifestyles, agricultural operations, and wetlands. “There are good environmental organizations trying to beat this thing, but it’s not enough,” he wrote. “We can win some small battles but have a hard time with the big ones, unfortunately. Yes, we need help.”
Timing for toll roads questionable
Editorial
Port Charlotte Sun
Time is winding down for public comment on the proposed Southwest Central Florida Corridor — part of a new toll road system being pitched for the state.
Florida’s ‘toll roads to nowhere’ could have devasting enviroment impact. Now’s the time to stop it.
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
You may have heard of Florida’s sudden plan to build what are widely called “toll roads to nowhere.”
Nature of Things: Draft report on toll road displays its problems
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
It’s hard to know where to begin in listing the problems with the draft task force report concerning a proposed transportation corridor between here and Naples.
Galvano determined to build toll roads
By Bruce Harpster, Venice
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
If not done already, I think someone might want to check on whether Senate President Bill Galvano owns any property in the areas where he wants the new toll roads to be built. Task forces recommended that the Florida Department of Transportation consider a “no-build” alternative. Lindsay Cross, of the Florida Conservation Voters, said that the task force members should recognize the public’s desire to preserve the state’s environment and the plan should go through the DOT’s five-year planning program for deeper review.
Endorsement: Joy Goff-Marcil’s priorities are what her district and Florida need right now
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: And she voted for environmental preservation even when others in her party did not. We’re talking about Senate President Bill Galvano’s increasingly suspect bill to build new toll roads through the state’s heartland. Goff-Marcil voted no, as some fellow Democrats went along.
Floridians are failing at protecting the state’s overwhelmed environment
By Bill Frankenberger
Fort Myers News-Press
Excerpt: Then there’s the totally useless M-CORES project that will obliterate rural lifestyles, agricultural operations, wetlands and, of course, much more of Florida’s environment if it bulldozes many miles through our state to make money for road builders and, of course, developers.
September 2020
Endorsement: Stewart gets the nod in an intriguing Senate District 13 race
Editorial | Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: For example, Stewart voted for the 2019 bill that approved building toll roads through rural Florida. Environmentalists hated it, but Stewart said she voted yes in return for getting environmental groups on the three task forces studying the projects. Stewart said she’ll push to kill the $10 billion plan. But it is statutorily guaranteed to receive about $140 million a year through 2030, and it’s far from certain legislators will ever pull funding.
Endorsement: Time for a change in Seminole’s District 29, time for Tracey Kagan
Editorial | Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: And Plakon is leaving out his 2019 vote for three new toll roads through Florida’s rural heartland. For two years running, Plakon’s gotten a zero on the Sierra Club’s legislative scorecard.
Endorsement: Coastal Broward voters should return Rep. Chip LaMarca to Florida House
Editorial | South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: And he voted to build three new toll roads through rural parts of Florida, over the objections of surprised communities along the way. These toll roads, which will cost billions of dollars, leapfrogged over other vital projects in the state’s 10-year transportation plan because a Senate president wanted them and acquiescent lawmakers obliged.
M-CORES: Proposed New Toll Roads Threaten Rural Florida and is a Bad Deal for Floridians
By Lindsay Cross
Columbia County Observer
Excerpt: “A prudent person looks first for a strong and secure foundation upon which to build a house. This process is attempting to slap together a McMansion on a sinkhole. Floridians overwhelmingly are against these Roads To Ruin. Nobody has demonstrated that the roads are needed or that we can pay for them. Task Force members should not sign onto a consensus report unless it includes “No Build.””
Candidate for cutting
By F. Leslie Smith, Gainesville
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: Since the end of World War II, Florida has followed a Chamber of Commerce theory of transportation planning that goes like this: If there ain’t already a road there, build one. The result is what we now see in South and Central Florida. But cheer up, sparsely settled areas: The Legislature has set into motion the building of three toll roads to bring the blessings of Orlandoization to your area! (And to further enrich road builders, home builders, engineers and billionaire land owners.)
We are failing at protecting the environment
By Bill Frankenberger
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: Gainesville’s tree canopy has been diminished as sprawl takes it down. Then there’s the totally useless M-CORES project that will obliterate rural lifestyles, agricultural operations, wetlands and, of course, much more of Florida’s environment if it bulldozes many miles through our state to make money for road builders and, of course, developers.
Donald Trump’s and Ron DeSantis’ alternative reality: If you call yourself a ‘great environmentalist’ you are one
By Diane Roberts
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: And instead of slapping down the three ecologically heinous and completely redundant new toll roads tearing through heart of the state, DeSantis is cheering them on: “I think we need new roads in Florida to get around,” he said. Actually, we don’t.
Questionnaire: Incumbent state Rep. Emily Slosberg, candidate for Florida House District 91
By Emily Slosberg
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: I am also a huge proponent for electric vehicles and Florida has the infrastructure (lack of) to welcome to new types of transportation into the market. Florida can be a leader in clean, sustainable transportation if legislative leadership would be open to change. It’s time to ditch the toll roads and generate revenue from electric vehicles. Next year I will be sponsoring legislation to support and promote the use of electric vehicles.
Questionnaire: Sayd Hussain, candidate for Florida House District 91
By Sayd Hussain
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: Budgets will be tough going ahead but we can make the right decisions now to create wealth. For example, Florida currently does not have an internet sales tax which hurts brick & motor stores at the expense of online giants. The legislature must pass an internet sales tax. We also need to re-evaluate existing state contracts such as the Toll Road to Nowhere and look into reducing wasteful government spending.
Kill these 3 toll roads to nowhere before they do real harm
By Richard Grosso
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Legislature should put a stop to the unnecessary, unaffordable and destructive proposal to add three major new toll roads to the Florida Turnpike System.
State should address critic’s concerns over superhighway extensions, but not end projects
Editorial
Citrus County Chronicle
A just-released paper on M-CORES by 1000 Friends of Florida and Sierra Club Florida Chapter has drawn attention to the lack of ongoing gubernatorial and legislative oversight for the projects that could cost upwards of $26.4 billion over the next decade.
August 2020
New toll roads pose a threat to a less spoiled part of Florida
By Temperince Morgan
Orlando Sentinel
The Nature Conservancy, which relies on sound science to protect nature, has concluded that new highways proposed for Florida threaten the history, culture and nature-based economy of the real or other Florida.
Nature of Things: True economic numbers matter when planning toll roads
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
Truth matters. That’s the message critics of proposed transportation corridors across vast rural stretches of Florida are emphasizing as task force deliberations wind down toward the delivery of final reports in November.
Why pave over rural Florida?
By Lilly Rooks
Ocala Star-Banner, Chiefland Citizen, Williston Pioneer
As Floridians endure a public health crisis that has resulted in a 10.4% unemployment rate and grave economic uncertainty, Gov. Ron DeSantis has slashed more than $1 billion from the 2020-2021 state budget.
Proposed roads will take their toll on Florida panther
By Temperince Morgan
Fort Myers News-Press, Naples Daily News
Many major issues associated with Southwest-Central Florida Connector toll road proposed by the Florida Legislature in SB 7068 remain unresolved, as the deadline quickly approaches for the project’s task force to submit its recommendations to the Governor and Legislature for the Multiuse Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES).
Destroying Florida the right way
By Michael Stephens
Gainesville Sun
I’m sitting down with fictional developer Crassus J. Boondoggle IV to discuss his latest plans for Florida. Mr. Boondoggle, welcome to…
Central Florida 100: Isaias, informed voting and Jonathan Isaac
By A.J. Marsden, assistant professor, Beacon College
Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: Looking ahead: GOOD NEWS FOR PANTHERS: After a frightening start to 2020 with four Florida panthers found dead along Florida roadways within the first two weeks of the year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation was relieved to report that not a single panther fatality was recorded between March 3 and April 30. Vehicle deaths are the top cause of death for the panther, but thanks largely to the stay-at-home orders, fewer vehicles were on the roads. Unfortunately, the proposed M-CORES Southwest Central Florida Connector toll road will cut straight through panther country. Let’s hope it will not reverse any of the progress made for the panthers
Note: this is not related to M-CORES but there are some interesting parallels here.
Florida Cabinet should reject $1 billion Miami-Dade highway
By Rock Salt and Paola Ferreira
South Florida Sun Sentinel
This fall, Florida’s governor and Cabinet will review a judge’s recommendation to reject a proposed roadway that would damage the environment and thwart efforts to restore the Everglades…County residents are part of a culture that respects and enjoys our unique natural resources — a culture that also supports sensible growth. The county’s master plan serves to ensure that reasonable balance is achieved. It should not be changed here.
Toll-road task forces power ahead
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
During the most recent meeting to discuss the corridor between Lakeland and Naples, there was a call to persuade Gov. Ron DeSantis to issue an executive order to delay the process.
July 2020
Time for fiscal restraint, not Florida toll roads to nowhere
Editorial
Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News, Gainesville Sun, Ocala Star-Banner, Leesburg Daily Commercial, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Daytona Beach News-Journal, St. Augustine Record
A bad idea in the best of times, these roadways are indeed particularly questionable at this time of fiscal tightening.
Maybe put toll roads on hold
Editorial
Port Charlotte Sun
The state should reconsider how fast to move on an expensive plan to build or expand three toll roads from southern Florida north. The Legislature signed off on the toll road plans when we had money. Now, thanks mostly to COVID-19, the state doesn’t have money. Gov. Ron DeSantis is trimming a billion dollars from our budget and only federal aid will keep the state from floundering deeper into the red as tax revenues plummet.
Let’s plan for the future — stop the Legislature’s new toll roads
By Vivian Young
Orlando Sentinel, Chiefland Citizen
Last year, the Texas A&M Traffic Institute reported that Orlando commuters spent an average of 57 hours a year stuck in traffic, with an average “congestion cost” of more than $1,000 a year per commuter.
Governor’s $9B budget includes wins, losses for environment
By Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
Island Reporter
Excerpt: Of course, they weren’t all wins for the environment. The controversial M-CORES toll roads were supported both through legislative bills that encourage development through rural areas (SB 7018, State Infrastructure) and through approval of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) five-year plan. The FDOT budget opaquely included $117 million this year for M-CORES planning and consultants for a total of $738 million over the next five years. That amount does not include the actual cost of building the roads, which will be tens of billions or more. The fight to defeat these unnecessary toll roads will continue.
Now is not the time for roads to nowhere
Editorial
USA TODAY Network-Florida via Naples Daily News, Gainesville Sun, Fort Myers News-Press, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Palm Beach Post, St. Augustine Record, Palm Beach Daily News, Leesburg Daily Commercial, Winter Haven News Chief
Excerpt: Contrast this cutback — which can certainly be defended — with DeSantis’ recent decision to commit more than $700 million to his dream of three fabulous new highways that will take us where almost nobody wants to go. This superfluous toll road project cannot be defended, and if ever there were a time to pack such an overweening gambit on ice, that time is now. “A toll road to nowhere is not going to benefit anyone in 2020. It just isn’t,” Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, told the Tampa Bay Times.
Toll-road boondoggle speeds along
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
The pandemic hasn’t slowed down the efforts to sell the public on the alleged benefits of a group of new toll roads that would stretch from the edge of the Everglades to the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp.
Stop Unneeded Toll Roads in Florida
Staff Report
Florida Veterans for Common Sense
Florida Veterans for Common Sense (FLVCS) calls on the State of Florida to stop its plans to construct three unneeded toll roads. FLVCS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to shape local, state, and national policies which impact veterans, their families, and the communities in which they live. So, FLVCS takes it as its duty to speak out on unnecessary roads that are unwanted and will damage the environment
June 2020
Questionnaire: Perry Thurston, candidate for state Senate District 33
By Perry Thurston
Special to the Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: State budget: Given the impact of the coronavirus on the state’s general revenues, how would you approach the tough budget choices ahead?…We should approve, regulate and tax recreational marijuana, and we should revisit the funding for the M-CORES toll roads.
New roads being pushed at worst possible time
By Jim Tatum
Gainesville Sun, Daytona Beach News-Journal, The Ledger, Florida Times-Union, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Ocala Star-Banner, St. Augustine Record, Leesburg Daily Commercial, Palm Beach Daily News
Many taxpayers may not know that a few men in Tallahassee have decided on the spur of the moment to commit us to years of debt to the tune of billions, for new roads that we have already established that we don’t need.
May 2020
Three reasons to stop new highways from being built
By Sadaf Knight
Orlando Sentinel
The scope of the forthcoming recession caused by COVID-19 is jarring: More than 1 in 5 working people in Florida have filed for unemployment.
Restarting economy by weakening water quality, growth management a bad idea
Ryan Orgera and Rob Moher
Fort Myers News-Press
Excerpt: Despite the massive complexity and costs, the state is moving forward with its plans to take on the Clean Water Act 404 permitting program from the Army Corps of Engineers, meaning that permits for the destruction of wetlands will be fast-tracked. This is particularly concerning as we face three massive toll roads through some of our state’s most important wetlands. These roads, if realized, will have terrible effects on our water quality — the last thing we should do is fast-track wetland destruction permits.
Hellooooo: FL needs visionary leadership, not boneheadedness
By Diane Roberts
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: Here’s an idea: how about the state nixing those utterly unnecessary and environmentally disastrous toll roads nobody wants or needs? OK, the Florida Chamber of Commerce wants them, plus the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association, and some Trump-buddy landowners who would make out like the bandits they are, but the people of Levy, Jefferson, and other rural counties prefer the woods and the springs to fast-food joints and traffic. The roads are likely to cost around $10 billion. Think how far that kind of money would go to buy conservation lands, which would, in turn, protect our ailing springs and wetlands.
April 2020
Wonder if voters would approve of toll road
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger, Winter Haven News Chief
I wonder how many people challenging incumbent members of the Florida Legislature will make approving or repealing this boondoggle a campaign issue.
Planned M-CORES highways solve problem that isn’t there
By Tim Jackson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida’s governor and Legislature have started the process of funding three major new highways which will cut across a vast swath of the state’s rural areas — all with the purpose, as outlined by the secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, of meeting the needs of our growing population.
With COVID-19-related budget cuts looming, Florida should kill budget-busting road projects
By Susan L. Trevarthen
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Though the ink is barely dry on the budget that the Florida Legislature approved last month, it’s increasingly apparent that an extreme makeover will be needed to respond to the shutdown of major sectors of the Sunshine State’s economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shhh! State tries to bury news that $2.3 billion revamp of Interstate 4 is over-budget, behind schedule(Note: though not directly related to M-CORES, this column provides an indicator how actual costs may well end up far exceeding current projections).
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
I’ve been in the news business long enough to see plenty of politicians and bureaucrats try to bury bad news.
Editorial
The Ledger, Gainesville Sun, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Ocala Star-Banner, St. Augustine Record, Palm Beach Daily News, Winter Haven News Chief, Leesburg Daily Commercial
The impact of COVID-19 could have Florida’s economy reeling for a long time to come. Tax revenue will be down. The state budget will be stretched to the point of snapping. Hard — even cruel — decisions will be made.
March 2020
Florida doesn’t want these toll roads to ruin
By Lindsay Cross
Tampa Bay Times
The process to vet and approve three proposed toll roads (known as M-CORES) through rural Florida has, thus far, been an exercise in what not to do.
February 2020
Nature of Things: Toll road plan still woefully short on details
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
The legislative-mandated effort to create a new highway through southwest Florida from Lakeland to Naples through possibly some of the last wild areas of this state remains long on rhetoric and short on details.
Ten terrible moves by an arrogant Florida Legislature
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: Consider the series of bad laws that ruling Republicans rammed through a year ago: three new politically driven toll roads; allowing teachers to carry guns; imposing financial barriers on felons who want to vote; making it harder to gather petitions for ballot initiatives; a legally dubious ban on so-called sanctuary cities; and forcing citizens to pay developers’ legal fees if unsuccessful in challenging proposed land-use changes.
Toll roads threaten to impact Everglades and water for central Florida communities
By Ray Christman
Fort Myers News-Press
“There are no other Everglades.” Those of us in South Florida know all too well what Marjory Stoneman Douglas proclaimed more than 70 years ago. It is a special place well worth protecting. And beginning last year, our state government began again to give attention to this American treasure.
Put the brakes on three proposed Florida toll roads
By Preston Robertson
Palm Beach Post, Port Charlotte Sun
At the end of the 2019 legislative session, Florida lawmakers passed a law that will create three new massive toll roads in what remains of rural parts of the peninsula. These roads were not part of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) plans but were mainly supported by road builders and potential developers.
Florida’s Toll Roads: New Initiatives to an Old Problem?
By George Lorenzo
Medium
Florida might be known as the Sunshine State, but pretty soon “sunshine” might be replaced with “toll” if they keep building more roads with these centers.
Editorial
Citrus County Chronicle
Cheers greeted the Florida Department of Transportation’s recent announcement to place on hold plans for extending the Suncoast Parkway. If you think the “hold” means the parkway is done, you had better buckle up.
Make the Wekiva Parkway a Model for M-CORES
By Lee Constantine
Port Charlotte Sun
The Wekiva Parkway — a 25-mile, soon-to-be completed expressway in Central Florida — has become the gold standard in our state for how to build an environmentally responsible highway.
Florida Legislature favors political values over family value
By Randy Schultz
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: And last year, the priority for Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, was new toll roads. They will get large state subsidies to bring suburban sprawl to rural areas. The Florida Chamber of Commerce is fighting the minimum wage increase but backed toll roads, which will benefit chamber members that build roads and houses.
January 2020
Put the brakes on Florida toll roads
By Preston Robertson
Fort Myers News-Press
At the end of the 2019 legislative session, legislators passed a law that will create three new massive toll roads in what remains of rural parts of the Florida peninsula. These roads were not part of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) plans but were mainly supported by road builders and potential developers.
Jaclyn Lopez: Stop destructive toll roads in their tracks
By Jaclyn Lopez
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Palm Beach Post, Florida Times-Union, Daytona Beach News Journal, St. Augustine Record, Ocala Star-Banner
It’s sad, but hardly surprising news, that more than two dozen panthers were found dead in 2019, including 22 struck and killed by vehicles.
Let us recall the (very bad) year that was in Florida
By Diane Roberts
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: Which would you rather have, some pristine wilderness, undisturbed wetlands to mitigate storm surges and filter pollutants out of our water, and habitat for the most majestic of creatures, the Florida Panther? Or three big, fat, stinking toll roads tearing through some of the state’s last undeveloped areas?
Don’t preempt local water protections
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
If Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature won’t do their job in protecting Florida’s natural environment, they shouldn’t stand in the way of local citizens seeking to do it for them.
Nature of Things: Insincerity and hypocrisy in state road planning
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
The real driver behind Senate President Bill Galvano’s plan for new toll roads in Florida is road-building contracts and real estate commissions. His lip service to long-term planning rings empty.
M-CORES expressway planners must think green
By Lee Constantine
Orlando Sentinel
These improvements could potentially slow down the M-CORES process. But the wealth of resources at risk from the highways — fragile waterways, wetlands, wildlife corridors, working farms and rural communities — are more than worth any extra time and trouble.
December 2019
Three new Florida toll roads are three too many
By Paula Dockery
South Florida Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times
Most Floridians would agree that we all benefit from a system of highways that help move people and goods around the state.
Budget tight? Try cutting toll roads
Editorial
Daytona Beach News Journal
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021 was released last month and in some ways, it really does live up to its claim of being “the Bolder, Brighter, Better Future Budget.”
Miami-Dade commuters’ tolls will pay for North Florida roads they won’t use
By Tim Jackson
Miami Herald
If you drive on Florida’s Turnpike, here’s something to think about: In a few years, a large chunk of the money you pay in tolls and gas tax is likely to be diverted to build 340 miles of new toll roads through some of Florida’s best remaining rural and agricultural — meaning undeveloped — lands along the state’s west coast.
Three new Florida toll roads are three too many
By Paula Dockery
Tallahassee Democrat
Most Floridians would agree that we all benefit from a system of highways that help move people and goods around the state. Investing in our infrastructure can help create jobs, increase mobility and move people and products.
Toll road project puts economic interests ahead of need
By Julianne Thomas and Meredith Budd
Bonita Springs Weekly
Earlier this year, Senate Bill 7068 created the Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance; this bill requires the state to build three toll roads under a short time frame with little direction.
November 2019
Editorial
The Ledger
One of the best known works by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett involves two men waiting beneath a leafless tree for a third character to arrive.
By Dale Gillis
Highlands Sun
Excerpt: Senate President Galvano says that putting toll roads through rural counties will spur development. At one hearing, a speaker pointed out that there are many square miles of rural territory adjacent to I-10. The freeway has been there for decades and hasn’t brought development. Will these new toll roads relieve urban congestion? No, they pass through rural and wilderness areas. Florida is rated 40th in the condition of its infrastructure, which includes roads and bridges. You would think the legislature would be more interested in fixing that problem. First, fix the roads we have.
Toll Road Remains On Fast Track – Despite No Route
By Steve Newborn
WUSF Tampa
Three of the biggest road projects ever proposed in Florida are on a fast track, spurred on by state lawmakers.
Nature of Things: Toll road meetings expose the plans’ weaknesses
By Tom Palmer
The Ledger
Two facts emerged from Wednesday’s meeting to discuss the planned toll road that will run from the southern edge of Winter Haven to somewhere in Collier County near Naples.
Turnpike group looks at areas to avoid
By Mike Wright
Citrus County Chronicle via Chiefland Citizen
No one knows yet where Florida’s Turnpike will intersect with the Suncoast Parkway, but a group began the task Tuesday of narrowing down where it shouldn’t go.
By Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing
Excerpt: So why, asked an audience member, was the Suncoast Parkway now coming into Jefferson County? Kiser’s response was that it was essentially a legislator’s prerogative; or more specifically, it was the prerogative of Senate President Bill Galvano, who represents the Manatee and Hillsborough County areas.
Advocates push for Florida Forever funding
By John Kennedy
GateHouse Capital Bureau
Excerpt: Many worry that Florida’s green spaces are steadily disappearing — part of what drove the ballot campaign in the first place. Earlier this year DeSantis signed into law a measure that could lead to the construction of three major new toll roads in Florida — cutting through mostly rural counties home to some of the land environmentalists want saved.
Editorial
Gainesville Sun, Florida Times-Union, St. Augustine Record, Palm Beach Daily News, Ocala Star-Banner, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Ledger, Leesburg Daily Commercial
There was little planning done before lawmakers pushed through Florida’s largest highway expansion in 50 years.
Editorial
The Ledger
One of the best known works by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett involves two men waiting beneath a leafless tree for a third character to arrive.
Florida’s leaders love our environment, but they love money more
By Diane Roberts
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: But in Florida, Nature must be monetized. Our pretend-green governor and the venal characters who run the Legislature now want to ram superfluous toll roads through some of Florida’s last unspoiled wild lands, wreaking havoc on wetlands, forests, and wildlife…The Chamber of Commerce, the asphalt lobby, and rich landowners want these roads. Nobody else does.
Toll Roads Analysis – Detailed Assessment of Impacts on Native Plants and Native Plant Communities
By Eugene Kelly, Policy and Legislation Chair
Florida Native Plant Society blog
Have you heard about the “M-CORES Project”? If not, you may want to start paying attention because it will affect communities across much of Florida and will certainly impact native plants and native plant communities.
Take your toll road away from Monticello. Far away
By Merry Ann Frisby
Tallahassee Democrat
Almost everyone has been stuck in barely crawling traffic on I-95 and I-75. In Monticello, a traffic jam is four cars, and we like it that way. However we are all Floridians and it seems stingy not to have sympathy for our fellow Floridians to the south.
October 2019
Citrus, get back in the driver’s seat
By Lindsay Cross
Citrus County Chronicle
Citrus County, you’ve been here before. For decades you’ve debated about toll roads, development, and how to hold onto what’s special about your beautiful piece of Florida.
Avoid another lost decade in climate fight
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: Legislative decisions such as the authorization of more than 300 miles of new toll roads through rural areas of Florida will only make matters worse. Republicans such as Lee and DeSantis will show whether they are truly serious about climate change by making it a central part of infrastructure decisions.
Guess what: FL Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t exactly a ‘Teddy Roosevelt conservationist’
By Diane Roberts
Florida Phoenix
Excerpt: While the governor calls himself a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist,” he supports destroying wildlife corridors and wrecking forests and wetlands in some of Florida’s last underpopulated places – Taylor, Levy and Dixie counties – for new toll roads nobody needs or wants. Nobody except the Chamber of Commerce, the asphalt industry and some mega-bucks, Trump-supporting landowners like Thomas Peterffy, the richest man in the state, agrees.
Taking preserve land for bridge sets dangerous precedent as Florida plans new toll roads
By Pam Harting
TC Palm
I recently watched a video by a supporter of Florida Conservation Voters about our public parks and preserves.
Are more toll roads really needed?
By Diane Trembly, North Fort Myers
Fort Myers News-Press
Thank you, Carol Pratt, for your very informed letter (“Toll roads or natural places,” Friday) regarding the proposal to build another north-south toll road. I travel Highway 17 from Punta Gorda to Lakeland fairly frequently. It is an excellent four-lane divided road; you can go 70 mph, and there is never congestion. Yes, there are several small towns you have to slow down for, but other than that, it’s great.
September 2019
Stop investing in the infrastructure of the past
By Emma Turner
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: The reality of a multibillion-dollar, 10-year toll road plan is that by the time of its completion, its function will become obsolete. As our method of travel adapts to a world without carbon emissions — automobiles become smarter, communities become self-sustainable — roads will adapt in tandem. A cross-state private toll road will become an antiquated relic all too soon. It is simply no longer a viable long-term investment of public funds.
We’re turning our waters into algae factories
By Ron Cunningham
Gainesville Sun, Daytona Beach News Journal
Excerpt: Under the flimsy excuse of providing better hurricane evacuation routes Florida will spend billions for new toll highways which will only further abet the runaway growth and over development that is killing Florida’s environmental integrity.
Task forces should take a close look at Florida’s massive toll road plans
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal via Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Few people believe Florida’s highway and roadway infrastructure is adequate.
We must up the ante to protect Southwest Florida
By Rob Moher
Bonita Springs Florida Weekly, Sanibel Island Reporter, Fort Myers Beach Reporter
Excerpt: With our natural lands already under siege, the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance toll road additions could be the nail in the coffin to a sustainable Florida. The proposed roads would needlessly devastate Florida’s most remote landscapes, altering both habitat and hydrology.
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Jeer: The state’s process for evaluating three new toll roads, for being stacked in favor of building the highways. The three task forces tasked with considering the roads held their initial meetings Aug. 27. Lindsay Cross of Florida Conservation Voters said the process made it seem “like a foregone conclusion that these roads will be built,” arguing the groups should be looking at the roads’ environmental impact and whether they’re needed.
No no-build option reveals intent of toll roads
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger; also published in the Palm Beach Post, Florida Times-Union, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Gainesville Sun, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ocala Star-Banner, Palm Beach Daily News, St. Augustine Record, Panama City News Herald, Leesburg Daily Commercial, Winter Haven News Chief, Crestview Bulletin
Earlier this month a trio of advisory committees tasked with studying various facets of Florida’s biggest highway expansion program in a half-century began their work.
Water quality protections to help Southwest Florida
By Rob Moher
Fort Myers News-Press, Cape Coral Daily Breeze, Naples Florida Weekly, Pine Island Eagle, North Fort Myers Neighbor, Medium
Excerpt: With our natural lands already under siege, the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) toll road additions could be the nail in the coffin to a sustainable Florida. The proposed roads would needlessly devastate Florida’s most remote landscapes, altering both habitat and hydrology.
Nature of Things: Toll road task forces are a sham
By Tom Palmer
Lakeland Ledger
Excerpt: This is the first study process for a new road I have ever witnessed that doesn’t include the “no build” alternative. Instead, this one involves some consensus report that will make it the least bad of any of the other alternatives. No minority report is expected.
August 2019
Task forces can lessen impact of roads
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Few people believe that Florida’s highway and roadway infrastructure is adequate.
Another Viewpoint: With M-CORE studies starting, now’s the time to join the public conversation
By Craig Fugate
Florida Times-Union
Note: This commentary was also published at Gainesville Sun, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Ocala Star-Banner, Lakeland Ledger, Palm Beach Daily News, Winter Herald News Chief, Leesburg Daily Commercial,
Three task forces are getting ready to start the process of studying the feasibility of possible new infrastructure known as Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance program.
Want to bet on results of toll road studies? Warning: The deck is stacked.
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
August 20, 2019
How convenient: The very groups that will advise the state on new toll roads that nobody asked for and nobody can afford are the same monied interests who stand to make a killing from these publicly subsidized corridors for sprawl.
July 2019
The DeSantis record: Bold promises clash with cold reality
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
July 7, 2019
He foolishly endorsed three new toll roads that will threaten sensitive lands and wildlife…This is not what Floridians said they wanted.
June 2019
Republican stranglehold turns Florida red
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
June 22, 2019
Excerpt: The governor? Former governors rejected a toll road to nowhere that would cut through undeveloped land between Polk County and Collier County. But Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, made three unneeded toll roads his top priority, and DeSantis signed the legislation to pursue those projects.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ arrogant abuse of political power
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
June 14, 2019
Excerpt: The toll road bill, Senate President Bill Galvano’s personal pile of pork, is the worst insult to the environment since the ultimately abandoned Cross Florida Barge Canal boondoggle of the 1960s. The three projects it authorizes would despoil vast rural lands in North Florida, as well as between Polk and Collier Counties. It serves the needs of no one who isn’t a land speculator, a highway contractor or a politician contemplating a cornucopia of campaign contributions.
Another Opinion: Save Florida’s shreds of growth control
Editorial
Palm Beach Post, Florida Times-Union, likely others
June 4, 2019
When Gov. Ron DeSantis put his signature on a bill authorizing three unnecessary, ridiculously expensive “toll roads to nowhere” that would plow across millions of acres of undisturbed land at Florida’s heart, he put his self-claimed reputation as a champion of the state’s fragile, threatened environment in jeopardy.
May 2019
Toll roads to nowhere no good for Florida
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
May 17, 2019
A state desperate for a 21st century transportation system featuring cutting-edge mass transit should not waste billions of dollars on toll roads to nowhere.
April 2019
New toll highways will take a toll on rural areas
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
April 28, 2019
The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that Polk County was among the fastest-growing communities in America.
No pricetag, no routes, bad idea
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
April 28, 2019
The controversial Florida toll road plan that is Senate President Bill Galvano’s top priority this legislative session was approved this week in that chamber by a vote of 37-1. Marion County’s two senators, Dennis Baxley and Keith Perry, voted in favor of the so-called M-CORES, short for Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program.