Commentary - Why Pave Over Rural Florida by Lilly Rooks
Special to The Newscaster
By Lilly Rooks, a Levy County, FL commissioner of 22 years and Cedar Key, FL resident
The M-CORES plan would extend the Suncoast Connector toll road through Levy County.
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. Yet, the state is continuing to fast-track a reckless, unpopular plan to construct three new toll roads through rural and wild Florida. I wonder why.
The state will spend $738 million over the next five years just to plan for these new toll roads. The cost to build the roads is unknown, but estimates are in the tens of billions of dollars.
The plan, formally called the Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES), was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019. The toll roads are identified as the Suncoast Connector, the Northern Turnpike Connector and the Southwest Central Connector. The toll roads are being sold on the promise that they will bring increased broadband access, water quality improvements and economic development.
I have been involved with the process because Levy County falls within the proposed areas for the Suncoast and Northern Turnpike connectors. I cannot disagree more with the M-CORES sales pitch. The reality is that these roads are not needed and stand to ruin many of the fading parts of Florida’s natural and rural past that make areas like Levy County so special, and so important.
As a Levy County commissioner, I represent 41,503 residents. We are proud of our rich agricultural and environmental assets. We are known for our timber, cattle, peanuts and watermelon. Our clamming industry is nationally recognized. Our environmental treasures include Goethe State Forest, Cedar Key Preserve, Gulf Hammock State Management Area, the Lower Suwannee River and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges, and the Suwannee River delta.
The M-CORES plan not only ignores those natural and economic cornerstones of our county, but puts our entire county’s identity at risk. For that reason, this spring when the COVID-19 crisis was breaking, I presented a resolution to our (Levy) County Commission to take a formal position against the M-CORES plan to prevent it from destroying Levy County with new roads and the subsequent suburban sprawl.
Backed by the support of the community, the resolution passed 3-2. The resolution was transmitted to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). However, FDOT-controlled task forces have yet to officially recognize and honor our formal position.
That flies in the face of repeated assurances from FDOT officials that local government positions on the roads will be respected. Do we matter or are we an afterthought because we are rural? As a county, we feel like we are being pushed around and don’t have a say in our future.
The city of Cedar Key also passed a “no build” resolution and recently, Alachua County commissioners unanimously passed a “no build” resolution. We need our neighboring counties to join with us to protect our rural way of life. We need our elected officials and government agencies to acknowledge our concerns.
Part of the problem with the state’s continued fast tracking is a rigid timeline coupled with the fact that day-long, in-person meetings have been replaced with three-hour virtual meetings. These virtual meetings have been fraught with uncertainty surrounding technical glitches, lack of public involvement and the inability of task force members to have a constructive conversation about the issues and concerns with M-CORES.
Most importantly, the task force members are not receiving the public feedback from FDOT. These countless meetings, seen as a dog-and-pony show, have left the public feeling fatigued.
The M-CORES task force process has been flawed from the beginning due to location and scheduling. With the virtual meetings, this process is no longer in the Sunshine. The public has not been heard.
So far, in both the in-person and the virtual meetings, opposition has been strong. The people who live and work in these rural areas are overwhelmingly against the toll roads. The issue for many is the lack of information. There is no demonstrated need. We want to know how much these roads will cost, estimates are in the billions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our county and state revenues. Our priorities should change in response.
I call on the other local governments and the task force members to stand up and say, “Enough is enough.” We will not stand back and let the state pave over our future.