Task Force could not agree on need for a giant toll road | By Betsy Calvert | Port Charlotte Sun
It wasn’t a ringing endorsement.
More than 100 task force members, including three from Charlotte County, will meet one more time in October to debate a draft final report on the 330-mile toll road proposed from Collier County to the Georgia border.
The task force for the largest of the three segments, from Collier to Polk counties, will host its final meeting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Tampa Convention Center. It could be the task force’s first in-person meeting after months of virtual meetings its 47 members have called frustrating.
The 30-page reports for the southwest section begins with some uncertainty.
“(The) Task Force was not able to fully address its charge of evaluating the need for and impacts of the Southwest Central Florida Corridor,” the report states on page 2, blaming limited data. “The Task Force did not reach a conclusion … that there is a specific need for a completely new greenfield corridor on land through the study area to achieve the statutory purpose.”