As your readers now know, each and every Florida Turnpike project built in the 90s was 'justified' on cooked numbers. The Times' July 16th report brings to mind the saying, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure." Now we know that Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway 1 were built on phony numbers and that these roads will not pay for themselves.

Why does it matter?

It should matter to everyone who doesn't like throwing their money away or sitting in hopeless traffic gridlock or who'd rather see trees and green fields in the countryside rather than another strip mall or mega-discount store.

But besides those things, it matters because it's against the law.

You might not believe it given Turnpike's track record, but there are rules governing when a Turnpike project can be built. The statute authorizing turnpike projects sets forth two elements that must be met before a tollroad project can go forward: First, the tollroad must pay for itself. Second, the Department of Environmental Protection must sign off on a "statement of environmental feasibility."

In order to pay for itself, a tollroad project must have sufficient traffic to generate enough toll revenue in its first five years to pay off 50 percent of the money borrowed to build the road.

This condition creates a numbers game.

Recent tollroads should have flunked this test because they were dropped into rural areas that presently don't generate much traffic. It makes you wonder how Turnpike could justify mammoth tollroads costing hundreds of millions in places where bears still roam.

The prospectuses Turnpike issues to bond buyers tells it all: Turnpike expects sprawl to fill in around a tollroad to create the need for the road. Turnpike has perfected the "build it and they shall come" syndrome and even has a fancy word for it: land use lag.

Turnpike has another fancy word: traffic peaking. Turnpike knows that, given the choice between using a "free" road and paying a toll, drivers will opt for freedom. Turnpike knows that the sprawl generated by a tollroad will put more traffic on every road in the area, thus forcing people to use tollroads just for the privilege of driving around their communities.

That's what has happened in south Florida and Turnpike wants it for your neighborhood too: gridlock so bad you'll pay a toll to go to the grocery store.

The Turnpike Authority doesn't seem to care because nobody is scrutinizing it. It has a cash cow down in south Florida, the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, which has been paid off for years. The poor toll slaves down in south Florida are footing the bill for these central Florida boondoggles. But, ultimately, taxpayers could get stuck with the bill if the tollroads can't pay for themselves.

Obviously Turnpike doesn't care about the toll slaves' transportation rights. Who does Turnpike care about? Only the bond market, and, apparently, rich, politically connected developers and road contractors. Obviously, Turnpike does not care about the people of Florida who are having their communities gutted and countryside sprawled over by these monster roads to nowhere. There are lots of legitimate transportation problems in Florida, why doesn't Turnpike turn its energies to those?

And what about the second Turnpike authorization criteria, the "statement of environmental feasibility." In the case of Suncoast Parkway 1, that amounted to a two-page letter from the Department of Environmental Protection. What exactly is "environmental feasibility"? The term isn't defined anywhere; it's a loophole so big you can drive a tollroad right through it. To make matters worse, the statute expressly deprives you, John Q Public, of the right to challenge the "statement" in court.

Now Turnpike says it is not unhappy with the consultant that it whipped up and fried these traffic projections to perfection to justify these pork barrel projects. And why would it be? The consultant was just giving its client what it wanted: the magic numbers to pave over the remainder of the state that has not yet been spoiled.

The question must be asked: doesn't the law of Florida mean anything? Doesn't Turnpike have to follow the rules like you and me? Or is Turnpike simply above the law?

It's time for accountability. Each and every Turnpike project built in the last ten years grossly and willfully violates the public interest. It's time Turnpike was made accountable not just to its bond buyers, but to the people of Florida and the law of Florida. A comprehensive, independent audit of Turnpike must be undertaken and a grand jury must be convened to examine how the Turnpike District got so out of control.