CHIPLEY, Florida
For months, Alabama media has been abuzz with reports of a long-rumored Montgomery-to-Panama City toll road, yet no one would confirm the project.
That is, until last week, when the project prompted a heated exchange at the Chipley City Council meeting and the Alabama governor is quoted in Alabama media saying he would support a project, if it was built.
Now, Floridians will get a chance to weigh in on the “proposed limited-access, toll-driven roadway” at a 9 a.m. meeting May 15 at the County Annex, located on South Boulevard in Chipley. Although the exact route has not been finalized, Alabama media reports have placed its starting point near Midland City, Ala., on U.S. 231, then run south, bypassing Dothan on the west and entering Florida. From there, officials have said only that the road would enter Washington County north of Chipley and bypass most of the county’s municipalities, prompting the ire of the Chipley City Council.
Council members scolded Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ted Everett on Thursday for discussing the “I-10 Connector” project with its supporters and agreeing to keep the talks confidential.
Everett has said he opposes the project because it would offer few benefits for Washington County. He told the council he was “cut out of the loop” by the project’s supporters when they learned of his opposition. He did not return a cell phone message left Saturday.
The road would end somewhere near the new airport at West Bay.
Getting started
Officials in Alabama and Florida have met to discuss a limited-access road several times during the past six years, state Rep. Don Brown said Saturday.
But “up until the last time I met with them, there was not currently funding to build such a road,” said Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs. He did not say when the last meeting was.
However, Washington County officials recently told The Dothan Eagle the group helping to spearhead and finance the project is Focus 2000 of the Wiregrass Inc., a corporation from Houston County, Ala. Alabama Secretary of State records list Steven D. Shaw as the corporation’s registered agent and states its nature of business is to “assist governmental entities regarding hurricane evacuation.” Calls placed to a Dothan number listed for Shaw went unanswered Saturday.
Florida officials have sent mixed messages about the project.
Florida Department of Transportation District 3 spokesman Tommie Speights said the FDOT has done partial studies on a limited-access corridor and it is feasible, but the FDOT was more interested in improving existing roads, such as State 77 and State 79. Speights confirmed a meeting was held in Orlando about a year ago on a possible toll road.
Speights said FDOT officials met with the Alabama Department of Transportation two weeks ago on the Alabama government’s study for the connector, but there was not much discussed.
Randy Fox, planning manager for the Turnpike Enterprise department of Florida Department of Transportation, and Public Information Officer Christa Deason, said Thursday there have been no detailed studies for a toll road.
“We have looked at the project,” Fox said, but no data on projected revenue generation from tolls, traffic patterns or a host of other material is available.
“There is no information in place on what they want the road to do or projected revenue,” Fox said. “There is no good forecast model for either Alabama or Florida.”
In March, Houston County Commissioner Bobby Snellgrove told The Dothan Eagle that backers would know within a year about whether there would be enough private investment. He said if the highway was a toll road, the project might be expedited by four or five years. Snellgrove also said the planned Country Crossing project, a proposed multimillion-dollar development in Houston County, could be an encouragement for investors in the highway because of increased traffic.
Metro Editor Will Glover contributed to this story.
