Project News

From the Daytona Beach News-Journal

Scenic designation:
State Road 40 deserves extra protection

01/23/2005

Daytona Beach News Journal Editorial

Slow-moving traffic on two-lane State Road 40 can lead you to frustration or to relax and observe the wonders of central Florida. If you drive from Ormond Beach through to Silver Springs, you'll pass over the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers and through the middle of the 380,000-acre Ocala National Forest.

You'll pass by Volusia, the tiny village on the St. Johns that during its hey day was a hub of commerce -- trading indigo, sugar and rice. And you may see wood stork or deer along the way. Or if you are very lucky, a rare Florida black bear. If you park and get out of your car, you may be able to spot a sand skink, an eastern indigo snake or a Florida scrub-jay.

The environmental, ecological and historical interests of this 60-plus mile stretch of road run deep. Little wonder, then, that the Volusia County Metropolitan Planning Organization has joined with the Ocala/Marion County Metropolitan Transportation Organization and Lake-Sumter MPO in seeking special recognition. In separate resolutions last year, the MPOs called for designating that part of S.R. 40 as a Florida Scenic Highway and/or a National Scenic Byway.

The joint effort has won support from the governor-appointed State Road 40 Task Force. Now an advocacy group, with support from the task force and the three MPOs, can go forward with applications -- often a months-long process.

But the move to designate S.R. 40 as a Florida Scenic Highway is bittersweet. The new title won't stop the ever-increasing flow of traffic, won't stave off road widenings and "improvements" that could expose more open land to mall-and-sprawl patterns. In fact, the new designation might facilitate road construction by creating more cooperation between the governments along the route, and possibly ease environmental opposition that has snagged road-widening since 1991.

Yet scenic designations also signal that state and federal governments recognize how fragile the land on either side of S.R. 40 has become. The first phase of the project, a major study, identifies problems with road expansion plans -- including the fragmentation of habitat for endangered animals and the impacts of wider roads on the area's water supply.

The agreements now being forged between local, state and federal officials will at least force all to consider the consequences of their actions if they don't work to preserve the unique character of S.R. 40.

The formal designation of S.R. 40 as a scenic highway might not happen for years. But the state designation alone will help preserve the natural environment and encourage historical and recreational tourism. If State Road 40 receives the national designation, it would be the 12th in the United States that goes through a national forest.
Plans must be put in place soon in order to protect the ecological integrity of the road and its side yards of forests and farmlands.