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Fact and Fiction

Fiction	Fact
The Suncoast Parkway 2 will ease traffic congestion on US 19	Only 5% to 7% of the traffic on US 19 is through-traffic (even FTE has conceded this). Therefore, unless the local residents of Citrus County would stop using US 19 for their local errands and use Suncoast 2 instead, the traffic on this road will not be alleviated by SC2. If you believe that Suncoast 2 will ease the traffic on US 19 -- ask yourself if you would use Suncoast 2 for the trips you make now on US 19. Will you drive to a limited-access ramp to get on the Suncoast 2 and pay toll to buy groceries, buy medication, shop, go to restaurants, visit doctors? or will you continue to use US 19? If you will not use Suncoast 2 instead of US 19 for local trips, then why should any other resident of Citrus do so? And if most Citrus residents are not willing to use Suncoast 2 instead of US 19 for local trips, then traffic on US 19 cannot be lessened, because most of the traffic on US 19 is local. But worse than that, rather than solve the congestion on US 19, the Suncoast 2 will likely worsen it. The rapid growth induced by this tollway (as Veterans Expressway, Suncoast I did further South) will encourage faster growth than would otherwise occur in Citrus County. And where will all the residents of Citrus County, new and old, run their local errands? US 19, because that's where all the restaurants and shops are. The Suncoast 2 will not ease traffic congestion on US 19.
The Suncoast Parkway 2 will not cause any problems in the future for Citrus County	The Suncoast Parkway 2 will be built at ground level. It will split the county in two parts and will cut-off most east/west roads except a handful which will cross under the tollway at designated underpasses. Residents East of the tollroad wishing to visit businesses on US-19 must funnel through those underpasses to get to the other side of the tollway, making the trip more cumbersome, not less. Traffic congestion through those underpasses during busy hours would also be heavier, not lighter than if there were other many other alternate east-west routes available. This has critical ramifications during emergencies such as hurricane evacuations. As Citrus grows, future east/west local road expansions will require construction and upgrades of overpasses, vastly increasing the cost of road improvements in Citrus indefinitely into the future. The Suncoast 2, as the Suncoast 1 did, will increase traffic along feeder roads to it. Traffic congestions along those roads will increase, affecting all residents and people who use those roads. All of Citrus will be negatively impacted and not only the people who are directly in the path of the road. The Suncoast 2 will encourage through-traffic from other counties to pass through Citrus on their way to other places. As these travelers only pass through and do not stop in Citrus, they do not benefit our businesses. We who live here gain nothing from being a hub for through traffic. What we will get from through-traffic are road grimes, noise pollution into our peace & quiet, and water pollution into our Aquifer. This is not the reason we came to Citrus in the first place. The Florida Department of Community Affairs has noted (3.8MB PowerPoint file) that: Most damaging effects may result not from primary effects, but from indirect or secondary effects. Secondary impacts [are] defind as ... impacts that occur later in time or are removed from the footprint of the proposed project Includes growth inducing effects, induced changes in land use patterns, population density and growth rates, and effects on natural systems and the environment Development growth rates within 5 files of a highway corridor are 67%-300% greater than rates for areas outside a highway corridor
The Suncoast Parkway 2 will have no impact on crime.	The Rephann study establishes a direct link between new highways and crime in rural areas. The following are exerpts from that report. Certain types of "transportation crime", such as DUI, drug trafficking, and auto theft, would be expected to increase, not necessarily because more local residents are participating of being victimized, but because highways serve as corridors through which contraband and vice is conveyed. [D]rug trafficking facilitated by highway improvements may create a beachhead for other criminal activities. [D]rug trafficking is the "driving force" behind the spread of gangs to rural areas. Highways may also serve to increase resident mobility and the penetration by transient elements. [A] highway increases the density of strangers in an area and contributes to higher crime detection costs. Hernando's crime rate has increased since the increased with the influx of people brought by the Suncoast I. Citrus County's property crime statistics have also risen in recent years.
The Suncoast Parkway 2 will bring jobs to Citrus County	The Suncoast 2 will not create the types of high-paying jobs that will improve the standard of living for the people of Citrus County. It will not create the good paying opportunities that local leaders should promote to attract into Citrus. Additionally, for the jobs created, there will also be more people coming in to service them. Therefore, the overall unemployment rate would not necessarily be improved. The Suncoast 1 has brought counties further south to the attention of big developers. How will small business owners (in construction as well as any other industry) sustainably compete with the larger competitors who are attracted to Citrus because of Suncoast 2? In terms of road construction jobs, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources show that more jobs are created per dollar spent on upgrading and fixing existing infrastructure than on new construction. This makes new construction of under-used roads particularly poor investments for the public.
The Suncoast Parkway 2 is a tollroad that will pay for itself without burdening taxpayers	Click here to view the bond figures for Suncoast1 and the shortfall in revenue. The Suncoast Parkway 1 has failed to meet projected revenues thus far. The construction of Suncoast 1 was pushed through based primarily on highly inaccurate projections. In December 1992, URS Consultants Inc. projected the Gross Revenue for 2002 for the Suncoast 1 to be $70 million. Based on those projections FDOT determined that the Suncoast 1 passed the Economic Feasibility test -- 1 of 3 criteria required for a "go" decision (the others are environmental soundness, and enjoyment of local support). In February 1995, URS Consultants revised their projections from $70 million down to $31 million after the decision to build had been made, a decision driven in part by the original $70 million projection. Then again, in December 1995, URS revised the projection down to $19 million. The Suncoast 1 has yet to meet even the lowest projections. Because Turnpike Enterprise must show that the Suncoast 1 could repay 50% of the bonds issued to build it within 5 years and 100% within 15 years -- a repayment schedule the Suncoast 1 could not possibly meet -- the Florida legislature eased the payback requirements to 15 years and 22 years to save the Suncoast 1 from defaulting. When Turnpike Enterprises reports that the Suncoast 1 "is meeting" revenue projections, we must ask: "how many times were the projections down-graded to hide disappointing facts?" and "which projections were originally used when the critical decisions were made?" Dr. William Olsen, the Director of Travel Forecasting in the Tallahassee office of URS, himself wrote a paper on the pitfalls of these forecasts which can "seriously impair the accuracy of such forecasts" and warns that "forecasting errors can easily have multi-million dollar impacts on the toll agency". Now FTE wants to repeat this with the $300 million it wants to spend on the Suncoast2, without a formal Needs Analysis, using the same consultants, without thorough collection of traffic data, without clear concern that the tollroad is proposed on top of Brooksville Ridge and the largest concentration of sinkhole-sensitive underground basins that recharges the springs and wells of Citrus County. URS is also the company responsible for the engineering flaw causing the foundation collapse of the Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa, again due to under-estimation of impacts. article 1, article 2
The tollroad will provide an emergency route out of the county.	The tollroad would end either on U.S. 19 at a nuclear power plant, in a hurricane Category 1 zone and a FEMA flood zone, or in Tampa. A true evacuation route must go inland or eastward, not north and south along a coastal route. The tollroad would actually present a serious danger to all residents living West of it (see Citrus County's Hurricane Evacuation map). It can hinder the rapid evacuation of those coastal residents in the case of a hurricane. All evacuation traffic must cross the tollway, funnelling through a fixed number of underpasses to travel inland. If accidents develop near or at those critical underpasses, evacuation West of that point will be blocked.
The toll road is needed to handle the large volume of traffic exiting at U.S. 98 south of Citrus County.	In their support for the Suncoast Parkway 2, the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners unanimously agreed that one of their main reasons for supporting the Suncoast Parkway 2 was their concern that the Suncoast 1 would be "dumping traffic into the county" and clogging the county's road system. However, by the County's own criteria, the Suncoast 1 has had no tangible impact on local road problems in Citrus County. This concern has turned out to be unwarranted. Tollroad ridership and revenues on Suncoast Parkway 1 have never met projections, even after those forecasts were reduced to hide the vast discrepancy between projection and reality. In December 1995, Turnpike Enterprises published an Average Daily Traffic forecast which was used to pass the Suncoast 1 through the Economic Feasibility test. This forecast projected the average ridership on the Northern section of the Suncoast Parkway 1 in 2002 to be 4,400. However, by the time a news article on Suncoast 1 traffic projections was printed on October 31, 2002, this figure had been revised down to 3,600. The actual number did not even meet that reduced forecast, coming in at 3,100. The numbers for the middle and southern sections of the Suncoast 1 were even more dismal even though their forecast too have been reduced.
Property in the path of the tollroad will be purchased for "fair market" value	Recent parkway extensions have avoided large pay-outs by lowering property values in the path of the tollroad. It often buys only the part of the parcel necessary for the road, leaving the remaining part of the property it does not require fragmented and unpurchased.
Every effort is made to minimize impact on endangered wildlife and their habitats	The 400-ft wide roadway with high fences prevents the natural migration of wildlife from the coastal Chasshowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, the Lecanto Sandhills and the Annuteliga Hammock to the Withlachoochee Forest. The single suggested wildlife corridor in southern Citrus County would be woefully inadequate, causing loss of habitat, promoting inbreeding and endangerment of several species of wildlife. The construction of the tollway also works against other efforts (some by Florida agencies) to provide contiguous migration paths for wildlife throughout the State of Florida
The tollroad is inevitable progress.	Roads are not always built in the best interest of the public. The Suncoast 2 is neither progress nor good planning. Environmentally, it is disastrous. The Suncoast 2 proposed alignments lie directly on top of the main recharging mechanism for the springs and the Floridan Aquifer in Citrus county. This has massive impact for our drinking water, the health of our springs, the eco-tourism industry of Citrus County. It will disrupt and destroy the peaceful character of many of our established communities It will worsen the County's ability to plan for the safe evacuation of residents West of the tollway in case of a hurricane emergency. It will increase the cost of east/west local road improvements for Citrus into the future. It is in a flood zone where Citrus County is restricting development as part of its land use policy. In addition to building roads, Turnpike is also allowed to build Enterprise Zones and establish commercial ventures on land acquired for the road. To justify the construction of the SC2, FTE promotes this tollroad as an answer to "inevitable" growth. This plays easily into people's general perception about Growth without having to provide any supporting evidence. As expected, many people have already associated "Growth" with the "Suncoast 2 Will Solve Your Problems About Growth" without questioning why that is valid. FTE promotes this mis-assumption when there no real data to connect the two, because it detracts people from the real truth: that the natural growth in Citrus is not as significant as it is made out to be. This graph from a University of Florida study shows the population projection of Citrus County in 2030 to what Hillsboro was in 1940. As a comparison, Tampa did not even get a McDonald's until the mid-1950s. the Suncoast 2 will not solve any problem related to growth that Citrus may have that the damages from it far outweighs the convenience it offers for a relatively small number of travelers that FTE's priorities are skewed, that the money to build Suncoast 2 to plan for traffic 20-years from today would be much better spent elsewhere to fix existing traffic problems Florida has now. that the Suncoast 2 will catalyze growth in Citrus County, pushing the rate of growth faster than would normally occur without it
The Suncoast Parkway 2 will be built anyway. It's on the Florida Intrastate Highway System (FIHS) plan mandated by the Florida Legislature. There's nothing that can be done about it.	The Suncoast Parkway 2 is far from being a done deal. Is also not part of the FIHS system as many believe it to be. The Suncoast 2 is a "wish list" item for Florida Turnpike, but will not be accepted into the FIHS system if the No Build option is selected. In that instance, the proposal for Suncoast 2 will be removed from the list of roads proposed to be part of the FIHS system. In order to proceed to final design, the Suncoast 2 must pass 3 tests: it must be economically feasible it must be environmentally sound it must have local support (for unchartered Citrus, that means the approval of the five County Commissioners) At each step, concerned citizens must scrutinize the studies and figures used to support the build option. We must demand that our elected officials: (1) understand the full impacts of this tollway, and (2) take into account our voices and wishes in their decision regarding about it
It is good to encourage as much growth as possible because it will bring in more taxes for the county.	With uncontrolled growth comes uncontrolled problems (Tampa and counties further south are running out of water and are looking toward water-rich counties such as Citrus to "share" this critical resource). Hillsborough's planners and economists are recently quoted that rising budget deficits will result even though the tax roll is increasing tremendously. The tax roll has not kept up with the cost for schools, polic, fire, new local roads and improvements, health and emergency services, etc. Growth in Hernando has increased taxes and fees in that county, rather than stabilized it. Rapid growth will increase the rate of crime, as well as the cost to control crime (police, fire department, emergency, judicial services, etc).
The Suncoast 2 will provide a direct, easy access to the Tampa Bay area.	The existing Suncoast 1 already provides Citrus County with easy access to the Tampa Bay area. US 19 will be improved with state money by FDOT because it is part of the Florida Intrastate Highway System. The combination of an improved US 19 and the Suncoast 1 will give Citrus residents easy access to Tampa, without opening the County to noise pollution, home displacements, habitat fragmentation, further aquifer damage, as well as other unintended and unforseen problems.
The Suncoast 2 will benefit Florida as a whole.	How many Floridians need to get to Red Level? There are more immediate transportation problems in Florida that require more immediate attention, in regions that suffer congestions now. Planning for traffic problems in rural areas that may or may not occur for 10-20 years defies logical prioritization, especially in the current cost-cutting and high-deficit climate. The Florida's Growth Management Commission, created by Governor Jeb Bush, states in its 2001 report: "We do have a great opportunity to make a real difference in the livability of our communities for all citizens. It will take more disciplined use of our dollars and prioritizing of activities, both state and local." The construction of the Suncoast 2 is not a logical prioritization attempt to alleviate congestion for the State of Florida. When FTE approached the FHA to fund the Suncoast 1, it was denied. Based on numbers that history has shown to be grossly over-projected, FTE then floated bonds to build the Suncoast 1. Now, FTE is again asking the Federal government for $160 million of the $200 million construction cost to pay for the Suncoast2. This is a grant and not a loan, so the tolls collected would go to FTE's coffers and not back to reimburse tax payers for the road. The Federal funds would come from our Federal tax dollars, and if granted, would in effect "steer" $160 million that could be used to improve/expand existing Florida Interstate highways such as I-75 to help a private enterprise build a road it wishes to construct. FTE is in effect competing with existing Interstate highway systems in Florida for the same Federal funds. The difference is, if $160 million of our tax dollars were spent expanding I-75, we can all ride on it for free. If $160 million of our tax dollars were spent on the Suncoast 2, we'd all be paying tolls to ride on it. Sine that initial request for $160 million, the projected cost has risen to between $600 million and $800 million. Any justification for growth in ridership projected 10 years ago has also now become grossly inaccurate, given the rising price of gas and the changing driving habits of Americans.
If the Suncoast 2 is not built, our roads will become as congested as other parts of Florida.	There is no evidence or credible studies to validate this claim. Conversely, there are extensive studies indicating that highways have a large impact on inducing sprawl, steering development toward it, and worsen rather than solve transportation problems.
The Suncoast 2 will have negative impacts only for the people directly in its path.	Traffic noise from the tollroad will travel a minimum of 1 mile in every direction. Even for homes not directly in the path of the tollroad, the background natural sound level that people enjoy outdoors can be replaced by the hum of distant high-speed traffic. Road grime, oils, fuel and other pollutants from tollroad traffic will be collected into retention ponds which flow directly into the Floridan Aquifer through Citrus' "swiss-cheese" limestone base. This base contains underground water-filled cavities which feed directly and unfiltered into the Floridan Aquifer. This is where Citrus draws its drinking water. These underground water-filled cavities (or closed depressions) also drive the output of our springs, creating a unique eco-tourism industry for Citrus County.
Citrus County is growing so fast that this tollway is necessary to meet its needs.	Rather than building roads to answer real needs, FTE often builds roads to CREATE needs, to encourage more development into rural areas which would not otherwise experience that rapid growth rate. FTE is now a private enterprise, and as such, it has profit-driven motives like any large corporation. It is responsible for its "shareholders". It is legally bound to its bond holders, and not to the communities it disrupts. Ultimately, it must make money. To make money, FTE must encourage more ridership, it must "grow its market". To do that it must build more roads. New tollroads are more easily built through areas of low density because there are fewer (and less powerful) people to protest its construction. This makes the land acquisition process (the most difficult and often most expensive step) much easier. The construction of the Suncoast 2 therefore has little to do with actual NEED for the tollway in the first place. No documented Needs Analysis study has been done to justify building the Suncoast 2, especially through Citrus County. If FTE were serious about building roads to prevent traffic congestions that would "inevitably" occur, then it could have proposed the road through Marion County, which according to FTE's own PD&E study, has a projected growth of twice that of Citrus. However, Marion County, with the foresight to understand all the negative impacts such large roads would have, have refused to allow all new expressways and tollroads through its County.
Taxes do not fund the Florida's Turnpike System. Toll roads are self-supporting, freeing highway tax money for other needed road projects.	This excerpt (pp. 202-204) from the Review of the DOT Tentative Work Program FY 2003/4 thru 2007/8 (large download) by the Florida Transportation Commission (and submitted to Governor Bush on March 14, 2003) clearly shows that: The Department of Transportation (funded by tax dollars) can "use federal and state transportation funds to lend or pay a portion of the operating, maintenance, and capital cost of turnpike projects." For fiscal years 2004-2008, $97.5 million in state dollars is provided for capital costs on Turnpike projects Out of that (tax-funded state dollars) amount, $45 million is allocated for work on the Suncoast 2 FTE is pursuing a request for $160+ million in funding from the Federal Highway Administration, whose funds come entirely from tax dollars Every tax dollar spent on tollroads is a dollar less for FREE roads. In effect, our tax dollars are being spent to give us the priviledge of paying tolls to drive on tax-funded roads. Sadly, this practice is nothing new. The public has simply been in the dark about it.
Turnpike Enterprise will mitigate noise problems for communities which the tollroad affects as it had promised residents	We should heed the lessons of communities further south, like Cheval and Silverthorn. Aerial photo of Cheval Arial photo of Silverthorn. Warning from a citizen's group in Cheval.