 ST. LUCIE TOLL BRIDGE MONEY GETS REROUTED Palm Beach Post -- Saturday, July 14, 2001 By: Teresa Lane and Jim Reeder, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers PORT ST. LUCIE - State and local officials who have labored for years to build a toll bridge over the Indian River at Walton Road switched gears Friday, diverting $20 million to a bridge at West Virginia Drive that officials say is more critical. Bowing to requests from local officials, state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, asked the state Department of Transportation to transfer $20 million from the controversial Walton Road project to West Virginia Drive, where a $74.5 million corridor from U.S. 1 to Interstate 95 is designed to relieve gridlock on the city's two east-west arteries. Although the four-lane West Virginia corridor - which includes a six-lane span across the environmentally sensitive St. Lucie River and a second bridge over Florida's Turnpike - has its own adversaries and environmental hurdles, proponents said Friday that a third east-west crossing is sorely needed in a city where 70 percent of the population willone day live west of the river. "This is about priorities," Pruitt said during an afternoon news conference attended by city officials and district DOT secretary Rick Chesser. "If we don't build the corridor soon, this city will be in a state of gridlock like we've never seen before." The Florida Department of Environmental Protection blasted the proposed bridge route between West Virginia and Village Green drives in 1999, saying the city couldn't have chosen a more environmentally unsound place to span the river's North Fork. Although city employees say they are confident any problems can be solved, Pruitt said his first allegiance is to the river and said if DEP claims the 2-mile bridge would be too intrusive, he'll withdraw his support. "This is pale in comparison to (the environmental impacts) the Walton Road bridge faced, but we have to let the science and facts play out and if it harms the river, it won't happen," Pruitt said. Although the city has sufficient land west of the turnpike to build a four-lane extension of West Virginia, it put residents east of Bayshore Boulevard on notice last year that their homes and lots would eventually be in the path of the expanded 6-mile road and bridges. The city has bought 18 lots and homes along West Virginia Drive east of Floresta Drive for the project but likely won't buy any of the remaining 130 lots or 167 homes east of Bayshore until a one- to three-year permit, design and engineering study shows the corridor is environmentally feasible. The city hopes to begin seeking engineers for that study next month, and construction of the first phase from U.S. 1 to Bayshore Boulevard could begin in two to three years, City Manager Don Cooper said. In addition to using $20 million from the state, the project will receive $17 million from the countywide Metropolitan Planning Organization, and about $22 million more will come from city-issued bonds backed by future sales-tax money. That leaves about $15 million that will come from city taxpayers, developers west of I-95 who want to hook into the road and turnpike officials. Cooper released the city's budget proposal this week and warned the council it should consider raising the property tax rate by $1 per $1,000 of taxable property value to build new roads. On Friday, his intentions became clearer. "If we instituted that tax next year and put the money aside for three years, we'd have $10 million for West Virginia Drive," he said. Pruitt denied the Walton Road bridge was stymied because of the much-publicized failure of a similar bridge designed by the same firm, Figg Bridge Engineers, consultants to the St. Lucie County Expressway and Bridge Authority. Figg designed the Garcon Point Bridge in Florida's Panhandle and cited that project as a model for Walton Road because its financing was based on tolls and state loans. But once Garcon Point was built, it attracted fewer motorists than expected and toll revenue fell short. Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed a $1.5 million bailout to make up the difference. The project was also the subject of a federal investigation that resulted in millions of dollars in fines after Odebrecht-Metric, the bridge builder, admitted dumping debris in the water instead of hauling it to a landfill. Pruitt and Cooper insisted the bridge on West Virginia Drive won't be a repeat of Garcon Point because there will be closer supervision of the bridge builder. Despite assertions from some officials that the Walton Road project will resurface one day, perhaps in five years or so, four opponents sued and accused of libel by Figg Engineers were pleased with Friday's news. Linda Figg, president of Figg Engineers, was not available for comment Friday. "Holy, moly!" said Hutchinson Island resident Charles Grande. "You're not kidding me, are you?" "It's a great day for the river and the Savannas," Indian River Drive resident Roger Sharp said. "I just hope the expressway authority won't continue to waste money." Expressway authority Chairman Rudy Howard said the Garcon Point Bridge's problems might have had an effect on DOT's decision. "I'm certain it didn't help the situation at all," Howard said. "People continued to focus on the negative instead of on the positive aspects." Howard said he still believes a Walton Road bridge will be needed someday and said he'll talk with the board's attorney and others before deciding whether the group should disband or tackle another project. County Commissioner Paula Lewis, also on the expressway authority, doesn't expect the board to remain in operation. "We no longer have a project and there are no others on the horizon," Lewis said. "The way things were going with the bridge in the Panhandle and the governor's veto, I'm not entirely surprised the state withdrew its support." County Commissioner John Bruhn, who now is on the authority, said he favors moving money to West Virginia Drive. "I'm very thankful they did this before we spent millions more on the bridge," Bruhn said. "I think there is no justification for it from what I've seen." Toll-bridge chronology
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