An intrastate bypass is in Florida’s future, planners say

The solution to Florida’s clogged arterial roads may be a bypass straight through the state’s heart.

But any road that cuts through rural central Florida could destroy the environment and quality of life that residents there enjoy.

The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council heard in a presentation Thursday the good and the bad about a proposed parkway that would run up the middle of the state.

Members of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise presented the council with the concept of the Heartland Parkway, a toll road that would run from Fort Myers to just south of Orlando.

The $2.5 to $3 billion parkway would travel about 110 miles from State Road 82 near Fort Myers to Interstate 4, southwest of Orlando. The northern section of the parkway would split, with one arm going toward the Polk Parkway near Lakeland and the other continuing to I-4.

Members of the turnpike enterprise also presented a proposal for another road, the Heartland Coast to Coast, which would travel from Interstate 75 south of Tampa, to Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County.

The projected paths for both roads are extremely wide lines on a map. An exact path has yet to be determined, said Pam Richmond, spokeswoman for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. What is certain, though, is the need for new corridors over the next 20 years, Richmond said.

“New corridors are needed to sustain Florida’s economy,” she said.

However, some residents in rural communities would rather see roads go where the people are, said Daniel Cruz, a resident of Glades County, where part of the parkway is projected to go.

Cruz told members of the council he is concerned about what the parkway will do to his rural community.

“I’m very concerned about what this means for us as Florida comes right through our doorstep,” Cruz said.

With all the growth in Florida, Glades County is one of the only untouched areas that still retains an old-Florida feel, he said.

“This is not where people are, but it will be if this gets built,” Cruz said.

The concerns of rural residents are understandable, Lee Commissioner John Albion said, but there is realistically no other place to build new roads.

Central Florida still has available, affordable land and both coasts can access a road that runs down the middle of the state, which is key during hurricane evacuations, Albion said.

The surge of development that the parkway could bring to smaller, rural counties can be at least partially avoided by ensuring that the road has limited access points, he said.

Over the coming months, members of the turnpike enterprise will study the project to determine if it is needed, environmentally sound, economically feasible and whether it has local support.

Officials will meet with local government leaders to introduce plans for the parkway and gauge support, Richardson said. They also will generate traffic forecasts and revenue forecasts.

If local governments support the parkway, leaders will have to amend their comprehensive plans to incorporate the project, said Randy Fox, planning manager for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise.

Fox said the enterprise will also determine whether tolls can fund the multi-billion dollar project.

If it is not financially feasible, the project will need local support, land donations or private partnerships to be successful, Fox said.

“Something this big takes a lot of support and a lot of resources,” he said.

The parkway is still in the very early phases of study, Fox said.

“There is no funding for the project,” Fox said.

If all of the funding and political will to build the project were in place today, it would take at least 10 years before construction could start, Fox said.