FutureModes An occasional blog on urban planning and transportation issues March 7, 2021
SB 100 is another term for M-CORES lite By Jo Laurie Penrose, AICP M-CORES passed the Florida Legislature in 2019, creating 300 miles of toll roads, without planning or engineering and costing billions. Dozens of task force meetings were held in the last 18 months, but offered few recommendations. Two bills now in the Florida Legislature, SB 1030 and HB 763, would repeal the legislation and return funding back to the state transportation trust fund. SB 100, however, repeals M-COREs, but keeps a northern corridor, in addition to some other requirements. This bill would remove two pieces the toll roads but calls for a road to run “along the US 19 corridor” from the northern end of the Suncoast Parkway in Citrus County to I-10 in Madison County. While this road may not be a toll road, it could be a relief road for freight traffic on I-75. Whatever it’s called, this proposal is MCORES lite. Bill sponsor Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) said on March 3 that changes and additions to U.S. 19 could be “on the road” rather than parallel to it. Speaking to the Senate Transportation Committee, Harrell said the bill intends for M-CORES money to be used for “grade separations and bypasses” on U.S. 19. Grade separations mean flyovers. While they may move some traffic faster, they also are expensive to build and they’re ugly. As for bypasses, they tend to fill up with traffic through induced demand and create sprawl. Capital Circle in Tallahassee is a good example. Another section of this bill calls for FDOT to consider four-laning arterial rural roads with a certain percentage of truck traffic, to bring in economic development. While a stronger economy is desirable for these rural areas, widening existing roads is not the way to accomplish it. The third roadway section of this bill requires FDOT to study a northern extension of the Florida Turnpike from Wildwood. The agency is required to submit a feasibility report to the Legislature by the end of 2021.
Whether the idea is new roads, widening, or improvements to U.S. 19, this proposal will still have a severe environmental and cultural detriment to the rural character of the corridor. It is requiring 150 miles of disruption to a way of life that cities and counties are trying to hold on to. This is another example of legislative mandates to the state’s transportation agency, without preliminary planning. Any new alignment or improvements on US 19 would be required to be developed as part of the state’s Strategic Intermodal System (SIS). One of the goals of the SIS policy plan is better coordination with local transportation and land use decisions to protect corridors. An efficient transportation system can enhance local economy. However, disrupting rural communities and damaging the tourism-related natural amenities to build roads defeats the idea of community planning. For example, looking at a map, a terminus in Madison County on I-10, would go north on U.S. 221 between Greenville and Perry. U.S. 221 is a two-lane highway with minimal traffic of any kind. A short truck route that runs along US 19-98Alternate US 27 begins and ends in Perry.
Junction of I-10 and US 221, Madison County. Photo by Jo Laurie Penrose, 2021.
I have traveled U.S. 19 and the smaller roads in the proposed corridor many times. Shamrock, Cross City and Chiefland are quiet crossroads. Grade separations on a main highway might move traffic a little faster, but they will not improve the residents’ quality of life. The only place in Chiefland that really has congestion, that I’ve observed, is at the US 19-98 intersection with SR 320, the road to Manatee Springs. In addition to roadway improvements, a new connector in a rural area is hard to justify without preliminary planning and engineering. The Turnpike northern extension has been discussed at length over the past 40 years. Looking at a map, an extension to US 19 at Red Level or Lebanon Station seems direct. Any extension would go through rural lands and possibly affect the Rainbow River and the Withlacoochee River. It could also affect the suburban communities of Citrus Springs and the west side of Dunnellon. Transportation decisions influence land use and generate economic, cultural and environmental impacts. We can see the direct effects of land use changes. Constructing new roads, or making improvement to existing facilities, may induce more traffic demand in an area that does not have much. Increased travel access also encourages more sprawl. This is evident in Chiefland, where local businesses have been overshadowed by the commercial development on U.S. 19 near the road to Manatee Springs. The section of the bill calling for four-laning rural roads to accommodate more truck traffic would also lead to sprawl, and environmental damage. For example, FDOT is already working on improvements to SR 100 between Starke and Lake City, an emerging SIS roadway. Economic development is difficult in an area with a small population and labor force. With or without new roads, Florida is dying (literally) for development. We can take steps to make sure that new roads are carefully planned and engineered to benefit people and the environment. Note: SB 100 was approved 5-3 by the Senate Transportation Committee. As of March 7, it is in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but not scheduled for a hearing. The other two bills have not been heard. None of the bills have a committee staff analysis.