The Board of County Commissioners of Marion County, Florida:
In order to protect our rural lands, our vital equine industry, our precious conservation land tracts, and the quality of life of our citizens and the overall objectives of our adopted Comprehensive Plan, the Board hereby opposes each and every one of the five alternative corridors of the Coastal Connector currently under consideration through western Marion County, as well as any new proposed corridor that would traverse the Farmland Preservation Area of western Marion County, as depicted on Exhibit B, attached hereto; or any new proposed corridor within the City of Dunnellon or rural areas adjacent thereto, conservation lands including Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, Ross Prairie, Rainbow Springs state park (and its additions), and Lake Rousseau.
The Board respectfully requests the Honorable Governor Rick Scott to intervene in the Coastal Connector project, and to direct the elimination of any of the five currently proposed corridor alignments in western Marion County; and that the Governor further direct the Turnpike Enterprise to terminate the current Coastal Connector Study, and give guidance that in any future planning, the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Turnpike Enterprise should avoid proposing any new turnpike routes in the areas described in Section 1 above.
The Board of County Commissioners of Marion County further urges the Honorable Governor Rick Scott to direct that the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Turnpike Enterprise refocus their efforts upon achieving the primary recommendation of the I-75 Relief Task Force made on October 1, 2016, which provides: “Transform I-75 from Hernando to Columbia counties by expanding its capacity and improving its safety, efficiency, and reliability through potential strategies such as express lanes and truck-only lanes.”
