Read the LTE on the Chronicle’s website here.

The turnpike may not be coming, there is a “No Build Alternative” on the table. We must all be involved.

FDOT is proposing four routes for a Northern Turnpike Extension; two routes directly impact Citrus County and would plow through wetlands, homes, businesses and historic towns, two routes skirt past us going over Half Moon WMD into Marion and Levy counties.

However, there is another option on the table, and that is the No Build Alternative. The No Build Alternative is what over 3,000 Citrus County residents who signed a Citrus County Petition in opposition, are fighting for.

Additionally, over 200 residents showed up in opposition to the Northern Turnpike Extension at the Feb. 22 BOCC meeting, of those 200-plus people, over 95% were Citrus County residents, and 99% were opposed to the Northern Turnpike Extension.

I know this because I was at the Courthouse entrance asking them where they were from, and if they’d like a “no build” sign and sticker to show resistance. The Chronicle states in articles and opinion pieces that many of the 200-plus people were from other counties, which is false.

The Chronicle also wrote in its opinion piece about the lone man, Art Jones, the 1% who spoke in favor of one of the routes coming through Citrus at that Feb. 22 BOCC meeting. They called him a local, he actually lives in Marion County, but for some reason wants the toll road to go through Citrus. No Build Alternative is an option for FDOT and that is the option I, as a Citrus County resident, am fighting and preparing for alongside thousands of other Citrus County residents.

The Turnpike may not be coming, we must all be involved. The BOCC will host a Public Workshop on the Northern Turnpike Extension at 9 a.m. May 24, at the Courthouse, Room 110, 110 N. Apopka Ave. Inverness.

I suggest we all be there and be involved.

Jodi Brantley

Inverness