Project News

From the Ocala Star Banner

Article published Feb 19, 2004
Task force reaches for consensus: State Road 40 group struggles with capacity, environmental issues

OCALA - Although far from total agreement, the State Road 40 Task Force inched closer Wednesday to finding common ground on possible road improvements in the Ocala National Forest, despite environmental concerns.

Whether or not the two-lane east-west corridor from Ocala into Volusia County should be widened, improved, or left undisturbed is the question.

"We believe eventually - it could be 10-20 years from now - there will be a need to expand the highway," said Michael Snyder, state Department of Transportation District Secretary, who chairs the task force. "We are trying to determine if we can build consensus with the environmental community."

Facilitators are working to find what changes would be acceptable to affected communities.

"My assumption has always been: No agreement in this process is final until all the issues have been considered as a package that you are reacting to," said Rafael Montalvo, associate director of the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium who is helping facilitate the discussions for the DOT.

Task Force members at Wednesday's meeting generally agreed that there is no need to four-lane SR 40 from County Road 314A east to the St. John's River. They also appeared to agree that safety improvements should be considered throughout the corridor.

But there was less agreement on two additional points: that some changes are needed to increase the capacity of the road to handle traffic between Silver Springs and CR 314-A, and whether SR 40 between Silver Springs and U.S. 17 should be designed to function more like a parkway linking a series of publicly managed conservation and recreation areas.

Task force members were concerned that four-laning the road would fragment the forest community, would make it difficult for wildlife and people to cross the road, would increase traffic on the road and promote more growth, and would make it more difficult by requiring increased coordination of the U.S. Forest Service's controlled burns that help sustain wildlife habitat. Those burns, which reportedly are critical to the preservation of the endangered scrub jay, could create smoke that endangers motorists.

Facilitators presented crash statistics along five segments of the roadway as well as current and future projections of traffic within those segments. Level of service is a gauge of the ability of the road to handle the traffic load with a Level A being the best and Level F being the worst.

There were a total of 553 crashes involving death, injuries or large property loss from 1997-2002 along SR 40 from Silver Springs to US 17. Of the total 553 crashes, 30 involved fatalities, 801 involved injuries and 125 resulted in property loss.

In all but the segment that stretches from S.R. 19 to the St. John's River, the crashes exceeded the state average, said Bernard O'Connor of Prosser Hallock, another of the four facilitators hired by the DOT to work with the task force.

As of 2002, the level of service on SR 40 from the Silver Springs to C.R. 315 segment is Level C and is projected to fall to a Level F by 2030. The stretch from CR 315 to CR 314A is a Level C, projected to fall to a Level D-F by 2030. The segment from CR 314A to SR 19 is rated an A-B level, which is expected to see a slight decline to a B Level by 2030. The segment covering S.R. 19 to the St. John's River is rated at the A-B level and is expected to drop to a B-C Level by 2030. And in the final segment, from the St. John's River to U.S. 17, the 2002 level of service is B, which is projected to drop to Level C by 2030.

Task force member questioned some of the data and had other concerns.

Charles Lee of the Audubon of Florida is concerned that if the state invests in widening the Ocklawaha Bridge to four lanes from the current two, that the entire road eventually will be widened.

"As the bridge goes, so goes the rest of the road," Lee said. And, because it is in the national forest, he believes any changes to S.R. 40 should be treated differently from ordinary road projects.

"The Ocala National Forest is our greatest national resource," Lee said. "We really need to keep that foremost in the whole thing. It's not how fast you get there. I think fragmentation of that forest (by widening the road) - you can kiss it goodbye."

Others on the task force have different concerns.

"I think there have to be road improvements," said Patricia Griffiths, a retired editor of the Star-Banner, who lives in the forest and travels the roadway. "Just what they will be is why we are here and engaging in conversation with knowledgeable people who can give us the facts and dispel misconceptions people might have."

Susan Latham Carr covers state government. She may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com or 867-4156.

Charles Lee of the Audubon of Florida is concerned that if the state invests in widening the Ocklawaha Bridge to four lanes from the current two, that the entire road eventually will be widened.

"As the bridge goes, so goes the rest of the road." Lee said. And, because it is in the national forest, he believes any changes to S.R. 40 should be treated differently from ordinary road projects.