What’s In Store For Marion County’s State-Owned Road Projects?

At Horse Farms Forever’s Conservation Summit on November 14, Jared Perdue, Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Tracy Straub, Assistant Marion County Administrator, shared detailed information about Florida’s transportation approach and goals, and specific road improvement projects in Marion County. Secretary Perdue, who took over the post this past April, gave an update on the improvements to I-75 and the Northern Turnpike Extension project, which will resume in one to two years. He also emphasized FDOT’s new emphasis to recognize and protect the unique heritage and culture of Florida’s communities while at the same time improving road safety and efficiency.

The partnership between FDOT and Marion County was also highlighted as a vital component to completing nearly 42 road improvement projects that will widen and extend roads, build several flyovers, and a new interstate interchange at NW 49th Street. These projects will help divert traffic off of I-75 and allow residents to travel both north-south and east-west without having to access I-75. This blog will highlight important aspects of Secretary Perdue’s presentation. We will cover Administrator Straub’s in detail in the next release. To Summit livestream was recorded, and is available for viewing here.

Efficient Transportation Challenged By Astronomical Growth

At the beginning of his talk, Secretary Perdue shared that the core FDOT mission is to provide safe and efficient transportation for the citizens of Florida, and to support the supply chain of goods and services. This is a challenge as Florida’s population continues to grow.

“This is one of the challenges with transportation – how do you provide necessary transportation, but still protect and conserve what makes Florida special,” said Secretary Perdue. “We have a unique challenge in Florida. We are the third most populous state in the union. We are growing rapidly, exponentially. Sixty percent of our growth is concentrated in 10 Counties: Osceola, St. Johns, Sumter, Walton, Lake, Orange, Santa Rosa, Manatee, Nassau, and Lee.. A lot of areas in Florida are growing at 20 percent annually.” Perdue shared that for every 100 people that move out of Marion County, 500 move in. “FDOT plans transportation projects based on a 3 percent population growth rate, and many areas of Florida are growing in excess of 20 percent, and so here’s what that means for an individual,” he said. “Yesterday, you had a 30-minute commute to work. It’s almost like you went to bed and woke up the next morning and all of a sudden, you’re sitting in traffic for an hour and a half trying to get back and forth to work.”

Transportation systems typically take 15 to 20 years to complete because of limited and finite resources that have to be spread across a very large state. FDOT must focus on a long timeline – planning for growth two decades in the future while maintaining enough capacity to handle emergency situations, like the recent devastation from Hurricane Ian. This year’s FDOT budget of $12.6 Billion is the largest in history.

“The challenge is because those areas have been growing so fast, 20, 30, and some areas even 40 percent growth, and so here’s the challenge, how do we think about transportation infrastructure differently so that we can start to catch up strategically,” he added.

Northern Turnpike Extension Is Still In The Plans

Secretary Perdue answered the most pressing question about the proposed NTE project to extend Florida’s Turnpike from Wildwood to U.S. 19 in Levy County. The NTE project was paused earlier this year, but Perdue confirmed that it was still in FDOT’s plans. The time frame has not been determined, but work on the proposed NTE project will start within the next one to two years. The project was paused due to the overwhelming negative feedback about the proposed routes from the communities in its path. FDOT’s response was to hit the pause button.

“Yes, we hear you, we don’t want to put a road through the heart of your community,” he said. “But we know we have to do something so let’s step back, let’s reengage with our communities and let’s talk about what those right solutions are because we know we need something.”

Perdue said the Northern Extension will connect to I-75 because it fits together as part of a bigger picture of how to solve the transportation challenges; because Florida is going to continue to grow and people and goods and services need to get from point A to point B. The NTE is also important for the future in terms of resiliency, hurricane evacuations, and natural disasters.

“We know we need to do something,’’ he said. “We want that something to preserve your farmland, to fit the growth patterns that are occurring. We want that something to continue to provide the needed transportation while embracing and maintaining the character of your community. And we believe that there’s a way to do that.”

A Love For Rural Florida

“I love the idea of protecting horse farms. I love horses and owned them myself,” he said. “I love Marion County and I love rural Florida. I was born and raised in rural Florida, so it’s really important to me.”

Secretary Perdue emphasized FDOT’s value on relationships with local governments and the goal to embrace and protect the character of communities.

“The reality is that anytime we set out to do something important, the way that people feel and that way that we engage them matters. It is absolutely critical for the future success of transportation systems in Florida,” said Secretary Perdue. He also addressed preservation and conservation directly. “What does that mean for how we deliver transportation in the future?” asked Secretary Perdue. “We believe that in order to successfully deliver infrastructure for the future based on the way that society has changed, based on the way that the state of Florida is changing and growing and adapting, that the absolute number one priority is for transportation infrastructure to embrace communities.”

He described the diversity of Florida and how important embracing this diversity is for transportation projects. Each community has its own culture, heritage, traditions, and also its own vision for the future.

“We believe that enabling transportation infrastructure to be a part of that heritage, a part of that tradition, but also a part of that vision for the future is where success is in transportation infrastructure,” he said. “This has become an umbrella focus for us. We believe that every single transportation infrastructure project can truly embrace the community that it lies within.”