A large turnout of turnpike extension opponents turned out on a beautiful August morning in Ocala. Sierra Club organizer Michael McGrath led a press release with several speakers representing different local areas potentially affected by an extension.
At the moment the DOT is proclaiming a “pause” with no immediate plans to pursue the roads, but environmentalists know very well that this could change at any moment. Where money is involved, there is always danger.
And this turnpike extension, like all the toll roads, is about money and nothing else.
After the press release many of the group went inside to attend the regular board of directors meeting. The board members in the past have declined to declare a no build for reasons that they wanted to retain a good working relation with the DOT and so they would always have a “seat at the table.”
Put in harsher words, the board is afraid of offending Tallahassee.
In today’s meeting these same sentiments were again expressed. Your historian spoke directly to these ideas, some of which we will repeat here:
I have heard some people say that it is inadvisable to give a definite NO BUILD because that might exclude them from a SEAT AT THE TABLE, or even worse, that such a statement might anger Tallahassee. This is nonsense. The decision-makers in Tallahassee need to know that most people who live in rural areas are there by choice and do not want that lifestyle changed. This statement must be strong and clear and not subject to negotiation. Tallahassee needs to know that people see this as a political boondoggle and they do not want Tallahassee telling them what they must do or how they should live.
Please tell the DOT that your county wants a NO BUILD.
So at the moment it looks like we will not get a definitive statement from Marion County opposing the turnpike extension but we will not slow down; other municipalities have categorically called for a no build, and there is plenty of opposition out there, we think enough to stop the DOT without the help of Marion County.
Thanks for Sierra Club in leading the fight to keep rural Florida rural and for all the good people who cared enough to come out today.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
