 ST. LUCIE REJECTS PROPOSAL TO BUILD MORE RURAL ROADS Palm Beach Post -- Wednesday, February 21, 2001 By: Jim Reeder, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer FORT PIERCE -- A plan for new roads that would open agricultural areas for development was rejected Tuesday by St. Lucie County commissioners who said the roads would create more urban sprawl. "Some of these recommended improvements include roads through sod farms to make it easier to get to Okeechobee," Commissioner Doug Coward said. "We have a $600 million shortfall in road money now." Commission Chairman Frannie Hutchinson agreed. "We have lots of roads now we can't maintain," Hutchinson said. "Why add new ones?" One of the proposals would extend Gatlin Boulevard westward and then turn it north to hook up with Shinn Road in western St. Lucie County. Commissioner John Bruhn defended the planning staff's proposal. "I think they're looking at what things will be like in 20 years," Bruhn said. "If Westchester goes, another development will follow." Developers of St. Lucie West have filed plans with the county for Westchester, a mixed-use development west of the existing project. Commissioners were reviewing the transportation section of the updated comprehensive plan. Coward said the county should pay more attention to land use patterns so there will be less need to drive everywhere. The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council is studying that idea in Martin and St. Lucie counties. Next week county and city officials sitting as the Metropolitan Planning Organization will review that board's long-range plan to the year 2025. Critics of a proposed toll bridge across the Indian River Lagoon asked to remove references to the "Walton Road Bridge" from the county plan. "No site has been selected," Hutchinson Island resident Charles Grande said. "The problem with naming a particular site is that when all else fails, someone will say it has to be there because it's in the comprehensive plan." Commissioners agreed the document should refer only to a proposed "Indian River Lagoon crossing." Copyright (c) 2001, The Palm Beach Post |