Plans for 330 miles of Fla. toll roads survive budget cuts

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Updated Jul 27, 2020
A map of the current Florida Turnpike system. Credit: Florida TurnpikeA map of the current Florida Turnpike system. Credit: Florida Turnpike

A plan to build 330 miles of new toll roads across Florida caught a green light with Gov. Ron DeSantis this month.

The plan calls for spending $738 million in the next five years for engineering and planning and right-of-way acquisition. The state is facing a revenue drop due to the coronavirus pandemic. DeSantis cut $1 billion from the budget to address the shortfall but left the funding for the toll roads intact. The roads would be built in 2022, if all goes as planned.

The project involves three additions to the Florida Turnpike and would be the state’s largest road project since the turnpike’s construction began about 50 years ago.

The proposed toll roads are as follows:

  • Southwest-Central Florida Connector – a new toll road between Collier County and Interstate 4 near Orlando.
  • Suncoast Connector – extending the Suncoast Parkway in the western part of the state from Citrus County to the Georgia line.
  • Northern Turnpike Connector – extending the northern end of the Florida Turnpike at Interstate 75, northwest to the Suncoast Parkway.