Gov. Scott Announces New Infrastructure, Transportation Plan for Florida

Gov. Rick Scott, along with Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad, announced a broad new vision Friday for Florida's infrastructure and transportation.

Scott has previously stated his desire to upgrade Florida's ports ahead of the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014, but he issued an outline of proposed investments into transportation projects across the state. Among the proposals are: advancing ongoing road expansion projects, creating more managed lanes on major highways (I-4 in Orlando and I-75 in Broward County are targeted) as on I-95 in Miami-Dade County, creating a public-private partnership to help Tri-Rail reduce costs, promoting the commercial space industry and investing $15 million for infrastructure improvements around Cape Canaveral.

New corridors connecting metro areas where either high-speed roads don't exist or aren't likely to expand fast enough to meet the areas' transportation needs, are also part of the plan. Studies are proposed to investigate the feasibility of new roads linking Hillsborough County to Duval County, Manatee County to St. Lucie County, Collier County to Polk County, and Bay County to Alabama highways.

Furthermore, a new Office of Freight Planning and Logistics will be created, along with a Seaports Office and Rail Office, in order to advance Scott's plan of preparing Florida's ports and infrastructure to establish itself as a regional trade hub for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Scott plans to help fund the initiatives by adding new tolls on roads that are being expanded or added. "To that end, Florida will be implementing a policy that all new capacity on interstates and expressways and widening and replacement of all major river crossings should be tolled where feasible; or, at the very least, tolls should complement traditional funding in delivering the improvements and new capacity," said Prasad.

For Scott, the plan will help boost private-sector employment, while taking advantage of increased competition and lowered costs for the projects.

"The transportation industry will be leading the charge in making sure we have the state-of-the-art infrastructure that is interconnected and efficient. This will make Florida tough to beat for the place where we all want to live, work and play," Scott said.