– M-CORES is back –

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

For any who think that the M-CORES died in the last legislative session, be reminded that the portion of the toll highways that was to branch off the Florida Turnpike and travel northerly toward a yet-to-be determined terminus, is still viable.
M-CORES, for any who may have forgotten, stands for Multi-Use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, legislation the then State Senate President Bill Galvano pushed through the Florida Legislature in 2019 to help the construction and trucking industries, among other special interest groups.
The legislation provided funding for the construction of 330 miles of new toll roads across rural and environmentally sensitive lands, with one of the proposed roads, the Suncoast Connector, originally supposed to terminate in Jefferson County.
That massive road construction project was essentially put to rest earlier this year, when the governor signed Senate Bill 100, which redirected most of the intended funding for M-CORES to other project and the upgrades of existing roads throughout the state.
The legislation, however, did not eliminate the extension of the Florida Turnpike northward into north Florida. Rather, it authorized improvements along U.S. 19 in north Florida.
Specifically, the language called for the FDOT to develop a work program that would allow for the construction of controlled access facilities, as needed, to achieve the free flow of traffic predominantly along U.S. 19, from the terminus of the Suncoast Parkway in Citrus County “north to a logical terminus on Interstate 10 in Madison County.”
It also authorized engineering studies for the northward extension of the Florida Turnpike, with the studies’ findings to be presented to the legislature by late 2022.
The FDOT, on its website, reports that the planning phase of the project is already underway and following the proper protocols to determine the feasibility regarding alternative corridors. Which the agency calls the Alternative Corridor Evaluation (ACE) process.
The ACE process, according to the FDOT, is used to identify, evaluate and eliminate alternative corridors on qualifying projects prior to the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) phase.
“The decisions made in an ACE can be used to refine the purpose and need for a project; determine the project area; define general travel modes or corridors; describe the general environmental setting for a project; identify preliminary environmental impacts and mitigation; and develop and refine a range of alternatives to be considered in detail during the PD&E Study,” the FDOT states.
The Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), which is part of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), has reportedly already started conducting an evaluation of the proposed extension from its northernmost terminus in Wildwood to what it calls “a logical and appropriate terminus” somewhere in Citrus, Levy, Marion and Sumter counties.
The FDOT will ultimately decide the terminus point, according to the agency’s website.
Already, the FDOT has begun scheduling virtual and in-person meetings in Citrus County, one of the most immediately impacted by the expansion.
And folks in Levy County, where the first phase of the extension is projected to terminate, are already getting riled. It’s reported that these residents are upset that the proposed road will go through the longleaf pine flatwoods and swamps of the 58,000-acre Goethe State Forest.
It’s also reported that the proposed route will cut across the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross-Florida Greenway, described as an unbroken 110-mile linear park stretching across the width of the state from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.
The takeaway is, don’t be surprised if this alleged corridor of alleged economic significance rises again to threaten this region. North Florida, in other words, is still not out of the woods.