By Joyce Owen
The Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority heard on Nov. 16 from state and local officials regarding U.S. Highway 331 as the board drafts a master plan to improve the U.S. Highway 98 corridor.
No matter the plan, Jim Anders, the Walton County representative on the transportation authority board, hopes funds are made available soon, ?So we could go ahead and do it now before costs get higher.?
After the meeting Anders said the cost to purchase right of way in South Florida was 95 percent of the price tag for road projects.
Estimated right of way costs for the 331 widening project are 31 percent of the total, but that would increase as construction continues along the highway and there?s less right of way available at lower cost, Anders said.
?We?ve got to work smart to get funding for this project,? he said.
At the transportation authority meeting, Tommy Barfield presented the Florida Department of Transportation?s plans for improvements to fi ve sections of 331. Options to widen the 331 bridge based on a year-long feasibility study performed by the Florida Turnpike Enterprise were presented by Matthew Click.
Barfield said construction on the Freeport Bypass has begun and the widening between 98 and the south end of the bridge is scheduled to begin in 2008. However, proposals that could provide relief to the congestion on the bridge are not in the longrange budget.
And that?s where the Turnpike Enterprise could step in to help with funding. Click said most roads are pay as you go, with the money collected through gas taxes funding road construction projects.
?However, gas tax funding has not kept up,? Click said.
Emphasizing that toll road fees are not a tax, but a user fee, Click urged the transportation authority to consider a toll bridge.
?There?s no such thing as a free road,? he said.
With concerns that mirrored Anders? fi gures on the increase in right of way purchases, Click said fees from Florida?s toll roads would be used to help pay a portion of the construction costs for a new bridge.
The road could be built sooner than a pay as you go project, he said.
?User financing is part of the solution,? Click said. ?It is also fair. Everyone that uses the bridge will contribute.?
Cheryl Sanders, a Franklin County Commissioner and authority member, said although she was familiar with toll roads, this was the first opportunity she had to learn about how a toll could help implement the bridge project.
While the ability to build the bridge sooner was a reason to consider a toll, charging users a fee was a problem for State Rep. Don Brown.
Widening 331 has been an issue for more than 25 years, he said.
?The biggest challenge is the bridge,? Brown said. ?My hope is to see that the state addresses the issue to have a four-lane bridge without a toll in my lifetime.
?Realistically can we find the money next year? No, but I commit to continue to work to fi nd funding,? Brown said. ?Walton County residents should continue to press for what we need here.?
Authority board chairman Randall McElheney said information from the presentations would be incorporated into the master plan that is under development and would be completed next July.
The Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority heard on Nov. 16 from state and local officials regarding U.S. Highway 331 as the board drafts a master plan to improve the U.S. Highway 98 corridor.
No matter the plan, Jim Anders, the Walton County representative on the transportation authority board, hopes funds are made available soon, ?So we could go ahead and do it now before costs get higher.?
After the meeting Anders said the cost to purchase right of way in South Florida was 95 percent of the price tag for road projects.
Estimated right of way costs for the 331 widening project are 31 percent of the total, but that would increase as construction continues along the highway and there?s less right of way available at lower cost, Anders said.
?We?ve got to work smart to get funding for this project,? he said.
At the transportation authority meeting, Tommy Barfield presented the Florida Department of Transportation?s plans for improvements to fi ve sections of 331. Options to widen the 331 bridge based on a year-long feasibility study performed by the Florida Turnpike Enterprise were presented by Matthew Click.
Barfield said construction on the Freeport Bypass has begun and the widening between 98 and the south end of the bridge is scheduled to begin in 2008. However, proposals that could provide relief to the congestion on the bridge are not in the longrange budget.
And that?s where the Turnpike Enterprise could step in to help with funding. Click said most roads are pay as you go, with the money collected through gas taxes funding road construction projects.
?However, gas tax funding has not kept up,? Click said.
Emphasizing that toll road fees are not a tax, but a user fee, Click urged the transportation authority to consider a toll bridge.
?There?s no such thing as a free road,? he said.
With concerns that mirrored Anders? fi gures on the increase in right of way purchases, Click said fees from Florida?s toll roads would be used to help pay a portion of the construction costs for a new bridge.
The road could be built sooner than a pay as you go project, he said.
?User financing is part of the solution,? Click said. ?It is also fair. Everyone that uses the bridge will contribute.?
Cheryl Sanders, a Franklin County Commissioner and authority member, said although she was familiar with toll roads, this was the first opportunity she had to learn about how a toll could help implement the bridge project.
While the ability to build the bridge sooner was a reason to consider a toll, charging users a fee was a problem for State Rep. Don Brown.
Widening 331 has been an issue for more than 25 years, he said.
?The biggest challenge is the bridge,? Brown said. ?My hope is to see that the state addresses the issue to have a four-lane bridge without a toll in my lifetime.
?Realistically can we find the money next year? No, but I commit to continue to work to fi nd funding,? Brown said. ?Walton County residents should continue to press for what we need here.?
Authority board chairman Randall McElheney said information from the presentations would be incorporated into the master plan that is under development and would be completed next July.
