Washington County still looking for answers on toll road

Supporters of a proposed toll road through Washington County came to Chipley Thursday morning to provide information on the project. According to many present at the meeting and the members of the Washington County Board of County Commissioners, that hosted the meeting, the supporters didn’t provide enough to make a decision one way or another.

For most at the meeting it was their first chance to hear anything about the project, which would be a continuation of a limited-access Alabama toll road from Montgomery, to the west of Dothan, down U.S. 231 and into Jackson County near Campbellton. The meeting was information only and no vote on a resolution of support was scheduled, or has been scheduled.

From there the proposed route would go through Washington County to West Bay International Airport. The Florida toll road would be built by a private-public non-profit organization similar to Focus 2000, an Alabama-based group that is coordinating construction of that state’s part of the toll road.

Proponents offered several reasons to build the toll road. Retired Florida Department of Transportation District 3 Secretary Edward Prescott, who said he was there to support the toll road as a private citizen, said that one reason to build the public-private toll road was the lack of government funding available to complete four-laning of State 77 and State 79.

“The DOT is required to maintain existing services, and their resources must be used for that,” Prescott said. He said that due to lack of funding the State 77 and 79 projects might not be completed for another 15 years, and completing design and obtaining right of way was not in the FDOT five-year plan.

That would not be the case with a private toll road.

“We can do everything with private money,” Prescott said.

Doug Callaway, president of Floridans for Better Transportation, said that over the past three years FDOT has deferred 268 transportation projects due to loss of revenue and rising construction costs. He also said that over the past 10-15 years 90-95 percent of new roads in Florida are toll roads.

FDOT District 3 Secretary Larry Kelly said he could not dispute any of the figures about budget cuts.

Almost everyone who signed up to speak expressed concerns about the proposed toll road. Byron Biddle, president of the Vernon Merchants Association and Three Oaks Winery, said VMA opposes the route because of danger to natural resources and the possibility of no access to Vernon.

“We have a heck of a time pulling traffic off 79 as it is,” Biddle said. “We see nothing presented here today that convinces us that this is the best thing to do.”

Focus 2000 Executive Vice-President Ron Mears, an Orlando-based real estate developer and financier, said there would be an access for Vernon, and anywhere between 4-7 interchanges total. This was in response to concern that the limited access tool road would in effect cut the county in half with lack of access.

Resident Ty Peel, among others, said the possible use of eminent domain to obtain property was a concern. He noted that BOCC had the right to exercise eminent domain, and Mears said that while developers would be reluctant to use it that it needed to be on the books, and that any eminent domain would have to come through the BOCC.

Others questioned statements that supporters had worked on the Florida project for a year and did not know the route. It was pointed out that Metric Engineering prepared a study of a corridor project for the County in 2001 with three possible routes. There were also concerns about what some residents called “secrecy” involved in the process before the public meeting Thursday.

Commissioners all said they needed more information before considering a resolution supporting the private-public corporation for the Florida toll road. They were also opposed to using eminent domain.

“The biggest problem is we still don’t know enough,” said Commissioner Ronnie Finch. “I don’t want to kill off the project. It could be in the interest of Washington County with enough interchanges.

“We don’t want to give up the rights to somebody’s property, and we want to be fully informed.”

Supporters said several more meetings would be scheduled.