The Marion County commissioners continue with their belly-up attitude that this road is going to happen no matter what they do. Unlike other municipalities who outright oppose a new road in their areas, Marion Co. continues to say they don’t like the idea but then they proceed to work with the DOT planners.
Cheap talk with no action and all too familiar as we see elected “leaders” blatantly ignore the obvious will of their constituents.
This type of passive support will get them a road for sure.
Marion County Commission Won’t Alter Position on Turnpike Project
Austin L. Miller Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY NETWORK January 5, 2022
Despite many people addressing the County Commission on Tuesday asking for a tough stand against the proposed northern extension of the Florida Turnpike, the commission didn’t make any change in its position.
Last month, on a 3-2 vote, the commission agreed to send a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation reminding that agency that the county’s comprehensive plan ‘protects the Farmland Preservation Area (FPA) regarding the development expressways or toll roads.’
The letter includes four points, one of which was to ask the state to ‘make every effort to avoid impact to existing developed residential subdivisions.’
The letter ended with county officials asking FDOT ‘to partner’ with them as the project goes through its different phases.
Commission Chairman Carl Zalak and Commissioner Kathy Bryant were on the losing end of the vote. They favored stronger language: asking FDOT to follow guidance from the MCORES task force, which would prohibit any turnpike extension crossing the Cross Florida Greenway in Marion County.
Disapproval voiced during the commission meeting Those in attendance at Tuesday’s regular meeting, the county commission’s first of the year, disagreed with the letter’s wording. Similar to the December meeting, many speakers, locally and from surrounding counties, went to the podium and expressed their frustrations. Some held posters and others read aloud from prepared statements.
If the turnpike extension is approved, speakers said, the roadway would severely impact the land, farmland, animals and people. They said the added concrete would ruin the area, pollute the water, rip apart people’s lives, destroy the area’s beauty and sully prime property for horses.
Some told commissioners that they feel neglected and that their voices are being ignored. As a warning, some went as far as to remind commissioners that their decision will be remembered at election time.
In the end, speaker after speaker asked commissioners to reconsider their stance and be like the Dunnellon City Council and the Levy County Commission. Both of those entities have urged FDOT to choose the ‘no build’ option on the turnpike extension.
When it was time for commissioner comments near the end of the meeting, Commissioner Michelle Stone told her colleagues and those in the audience that the letter does not give FDOT the right to build any roads that would go through the area.
‘All this board has done is send a letter reminding the FDOT of some of the details in our comp plan,’ she said.
The state will decide whether, and where, any turnpike extension is built. The process is still in the study phase.
Stone also read aloud portions of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If.’
Commissioners took no action and the letter, signed by Zalak as approved on Dec. 21, stands.
More about the proposed northern Turnpike Extension The proposed Northern Turnpike Extension project would extend the turnpike’s northern terminus from Wildwood/Interstate 75 west to U.S. 19. Three of the four proposed routes go through Marion.
MCORES, which is short for Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, was a 2019 state plan that called for building new toll roads in Florida. After extensive study, MCORES eventually was repealed, although the potential northern extension of the turnpike was allowed to proceed to the study phase.
The Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership supports the county’s position. The CEP president, Kevin Sheilley, in an interview with the Star-Banner last month, said if approved, construction will not happen for years.
Sheilley said the CEP met with FDOT officials about the roadway and expressed concerns about the project. However, he said it’s important that county officials be involved in the process so they could have a say in what happens.
Star-Banner managing editor Jim Ross contributed to this report. Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb .
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