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Alachua County rejects state’s plan for new toll roads

no roads coalition sarah In: Alachua County rejects state's plan for new toll roads | Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR) | Protecting the Santa Fe River

Alachua BOCC In: Alachua County rejects state's plan for new toll roads | Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR) | Protecting the Santa Fe River
Alachua County Board of County Commissioners. Not the current board. Photo by Jim Tatum

 

 

no roads coalition sarah In: Alachua County rejects state's plan for new toll roads | Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR) | Protecting the Santa Fe River
Sarah Gledhill speaking against the roads in Tallahassee.

Time is running out for the greedy planners who would bring unwelcome, unwanted and disastrous development to our already abused state.  Ill-conceived, poorly planned out and rammed down the public’s throat with arrogance, these horrible plans were never presented with options for a fair look.  From the very beginning the assumption was that the roads will be built, so “How do you want to do it?

Yeah, but we don’t want them and neither does Alachua County.

Note the quotes from OSFR prez Mike Roth and Sarah Gledhill from Center for Biological Center.  Thanks to Sarah and OSFR’s Kristin Rubin for working on this.

Read the entire article at this link to WOGX News.

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


Alachua County rejects state’s plan for new toll roads

Published 
Updated 6 hours ago

 

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to reject plans to build new toll roads across the state.

Florida’s Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Significance (M-CORES) would construct 330 miles of new tolls roads through rural parts of the state.

The project, approved by the Legislature in 2019, would extend the Suncoast Parkway from Citrus County to Jefferson County at the northern end of the state. along with an extension of the Florida Turnpike from Wildwood to connect with the Suncoast Parkway and the construction of a new multi-use corridor, including a toll road, from Polk County to Collier County.

The decision was greeted with praise of nature preservation advocate groups.

“Alachua County is showing bold leadership by opposing this destructive boondoggle, which could be a death blow to iconic species like the Florida panther,” said Sarah Gledhill, a Florida-based senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “By standing up to special interests, these elected officials sided with the hundreds of Alachuans who spoke out in favor of protecting our environment and rural communities from being paved over.”

RELATED: Proposed constitutional amendment to end toll roads in Florida

“We are so glad to see the Alachua County commissioners move to protect their citizens from a gross state overreach with their M-CORES ‘no build’ resolution,” said Michael Roth of Our Santa Fe River. “The Suncoast Connector is a major threat to flora and fauna throughout the region and a threat to the rural lifestyle. It is an economic and environmental boondoggle that is rationalized to the paying public on the most specious and arguable grounds. We hope other counties in the region follow suit….”

 

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2 Comments

  1. Congratulations to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners and those who worked tirelessly to oppose the extension of the Suncoast Connector through environmental sensitive lands.
    Hopefully other counties will come to their senses and realize the long term lost will be greater than short term gain.

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