Project News

From the Ocala Star Banner

Published July 29 . 2004

For years, the idea of four-laning State Road 40 east of Ocala and into the national forest has pitted transportation officials against environmentalists. The result has been a dead-end debate. A standoff going nowhere fast.

The two-lane road, notoriously known as "Suicide Alley" to locals, has meanwhile grown busier and even more hazardous.

To move the discussion forward, Gov. Jeb Bush formed the State Road 40 Task Force to draw up a plan acceptable to all interested and, more important, affected parties. The task force is made up of Florida Department of Transportation engineers and high-profile environmental watchdogs as well as road planners and citizens from the community. Its directive is straightforward: With the help of outside facilitators, hammer out a compromise that will provide for adequate traffic capacity on SR 40 while, at the same time, protecting the forest and its many and often-sensitive ecological parts.

The concept is simple. Getting an agreeable result won't be.

The divide between the two sides was exposed once again on Monday when the task force met to review and discuss initial design proposals. During the meeting, a consensus emerged that, whatever is done, SR 40 should be designed as a "scenic road." It is a good and logical starting point for the group and the project.

After that, though, DOT, didn't do its part. DOT officials presented a design for SR 40 that looks like too many other rural, "low-bid" four-lane highways. Yes, it called for protective animal crossings, but it also was standard DOT design, meaning extra wide, environmentally intrusive and unimaginative if the goal is to build a road that is "scenic." Imagine U.S. 301 through north Marion County.

Task force chairwomen Lennon Moore of the DOT defended the plan, saying DOT is "just at the conceptual stage right now. It will evolve . . ."

That's a weak response. SR 40 isn't just another country road.

The question of widening it has been bandied about for more than a decade and will likely take more than a decade to bring to fruition. Florida Audubon Society Executive Director Charles Lee and local environmental advocate Guy Marwick protested much of the DOT plan, from building a second bridge over the Ocklawaha River to four-laning past Forest Corners. They accurately pointed out that more road would bring more people and, ultimately, more growth.

The fact is, though, SR 40 east of Ocala to County Road 314 now carries up to 18,000 vehicles per day. State transportation officials consider roads with 14,000 vehicles per day candidates for four-laning. So, the traffic is already there to justify, indeed necessitate widening.

But Lee is right when he said of DOT's bare-bones plan, "I think that demonstrates the character of the slippery slope we're on."

DOT needs to get serious. This is a road that is anchored on either end by metropolitan centers with populations of 300,000 (Ocala) and 600,000 (Daytona). Over the next 20 years, each is expected to see those populations grow exponentially.

Yet, this road, Florida's only major east-west thoroughfare between Interstate 10 in North Florida and Interstate 4 in Central Florida, cuts through the pristine Ocala National Forest. Protecting its wildlife, their habitat and the forest's waterways is paramount.

Consider a study by the Florida Springs Task Force a few years back. Scientists studied four major Florida springs for pollutants. What it found was three of the springs located in developing areas, including Silver Springs, had seen nitrate pollution climb in proportion to population growth since the 1930s. The fourth spring, Juniper Springs in the forest, had the same nitrate level as in 1932. That's priceless. That's worth DOT's serious attention.

The point is, development is creeping into the forest's fringes at a steady rate. SR 40 needs to be widened. But it should be widened only where necessary and every effort made to protect the forest's plants, the animals, the earth and the water.

The plan DOT brought to the table Monday was a feeble attempt at best.

SR 40 needs to be widened in places and improved in others for the public's safety. Now, DOT needs to get on board and set about designing a road that won't infringe on the natural beauty and purity of the Ocala National Forest. A road that, when finished, will be scenic and safe.