Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
TaxWatch – a Florida-based, independent, nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog established in 1979 – has released a 32-page report questioning the price tag and need for the Suncoast Connector.
In brief, per the TaxWatch executive summary, the analysis “finds the Suncoast Connector is a risky project with what is sure to be a large price tag and little demonstrated transportation need.”
Complicating the process, the report continues, the “project is moving forward while COVID-19 has the state facing major reductions in government revenue – including gas taxes and tolls.”
Florida, the report avows, is in the preliminary stages of one of the biggest transportation expansions in its history, one that will add 330 miles to the state’s current 498-mile turnpike system, whose Turnpike Mainline is only 320 miles.
And the largest of the proposed extensions, and the one drawing the most immediate and vocal opposition and concerns, according to the report, is the Suncoast Connector, whose probable terminus point is in Jefferson County.
The lengthy analysis touches on the history of what officially is called the Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES), which Florida lawmakers created by legislation in 2019 and the governor soon after signed into law, and that entails the construction of three major new toll roads that are to be integrated into Florida’s turnpike system.
The project’s ambitious goals, as the report calls them, go beyond mere enhancement of the state’s highway system and expansion of its tolls roads, according to TaxWatch.
The three corridors, the report notes, are supposed to accommodate multiple modes of transportation and multiple types of infrastructure, including broadband and sewer and stormwater to historically underserved rural communities.
The report notes that the legislation creating the M-CORES passed “before an analysis of the need for, or the impacts of, the three new roads was completed.” The projects, the report further notes, were also neither in the work program or even under study by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) when the Legislature approved their constructions.
In particular, the report recognizes that the Suncoast Connector has many prominent supporters, who see the road as forward-looking and needed to accommodate the state’s rapid growth, bring economic development and infrastructure to rural communities along its way, and relieve traffic congestion, among other benefits.
But it also recognizes that the project has an equal number of opponents who are concerned that the road is not needed, will be expensive to build and economically unfeasible, will bring sprawl and development to communities that do want it, and will cause considerable damage to the environment and agriculture.
When it comes to the cost, the report notes that while the project will get funding that previous went to the General Revenue, it will still grow more than $100 million annually.
“Additionally, $35 million of existing turnpike revenue was dedicated annually to the program (for corridor access and connectivity),” the report states. “This funding will likely not be enough to complete the project on its own. The new roads must be tolled facilities, so toll revenue and bonds will be used (subject to a feasibility test).”
The report acknowledges the creation of the three task forces, which are tasked to set the guidelines for their respective corridors’ development, and which must complete their work by Nov. 15.
“To the extent feasible, the FDOT shall adhere to the task force recommendations in its development of the project, but they have no power to stop the project,” the report states. “The law mandates the construction of the projects must begin no later than December 31, 2022, and be open to traffic no later than December 31, 2030.”
Since no cost estimates have been developed for the three routes since their establishment and the specifics are unknown, according to TaxWatch, it resorted to using cost estimates and data from other toll projects to establish a potential range of estimated costs for the Suncoast Connector.
These estimates, per the report, range from a cost of $4.0 to $10.5 billion, “making it doubtful that bonds alone would be feasible to pay for the construction portion of total costs, at least with toll rates that are in-line with the rest of the Turnpike.”
States the report: “At the midpoint cost estimate, the Connector would need to produce $2.37 million per mile in toll revenue to pay off the bonds to fund 70 percent of total costs (excluding design and right of way). This is 10 percent more than the average revenue per mile of the whole Turnpike system.
“At the high point cost estimate, the Suncoast Connector would have to produce $3.43 million per mile, 60 percent higher than the average for the Turnpike. This is 83 percent of the top per-mile revenue-producing segment of the Turnpike; however, the Turnpike has an average DVMT per lane mile that is more than eight times that of U.S. 19 —the main road in the Suncoast Corridor.”
The report notes that if toll revenues are not sufficient to meet the debt service requirements, the rest of the Turnpike will have to subsidize the Suncoast Connector.
“The tolls paid by drivers on other segments would help pay for the Connector and take revenue away from other turnpike improvement projects,” the report states. “The new toll road may also require funding from the State Transportation Trust Fund (STTF), diverting money from needed transportation projects.”
Since the announcement of the Suncoast Connector, Levy County has formally come out in opposition to the road in the form of a resolution adopted by its county commission. Just north of Citrus County, where the road presently ends, Levy is one of eight counties that the 150-mile long Suncoast Connector must traverse.
More recently, in August, the Alachua County Commission likewise passed a resolution in opposition to the Suncoast Connector. Although not directly impacted by the proposed road, Alachua County abuts two of the counties that are impacted.
In its resolution, the Alachua County Commission argues that the resources that are being allocated for the M-CORES toll road would be better spent serving the public health needs brought on by COVID-19 and in the maintenance of exiting roads and bridges.