Some local officials are criticizing a state proposal to fold the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority into a new regional tollway agency.
The proposal from the Florida Department of Transportation, which has not been introduced as a bill to the Legislature yet, would “transfer the governance and control” of the Bridge Authority to the Okaloosa-Bay Regional Tollway Authority.
“It’s really eliminating the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority,” said Jim Vest, executive director of the Bridge Authority. “For the last three years, we’ve been a target of this kind of consolidation. This looks like it is a continuation of that effort.”
Vest said he sees the proposal as a way for the DOT to have “a lot more control” over future road projects in Northwest Florida.
DOT Secretary Ananth Prasad announced the proposal Wednesday at the Emerald Coast Transportation Symposium on Okaloosa Island.
The plan also would create the Northwest Florida Regional Tollway Authority for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and the Suncoast Regional Tollway Authority for Citrus, Levy, Marion and Alachua counties.
Under the proposal, which would form the Florida Regional Tollway Authority Act, projects would be planned and developed by an authority and built by the DOT. The infrastructure would be operated and maintained by the DOT, which would be reimbursed through toll revenues.
Retired Air Force Gen. Gordon Fornell, chairman of the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority, said he was aware of the proposal but would have liked more information before it was announced.
“There was no collaboration,” he said. “I just don’t see the advantage. I’m all for regional control, but we have been so successful on the Mid-Bay Bridge and the connector. … We specialize in execution. We get things done.”
Fornell added that the Bridge Authority is “a model throughout the country on its financing” of various transportation projects.
Mid-Bay Bridge Authority member Jimmy Nielson said he wouldn’t want to see toll revenues from the bridge be used on road projects outside Okaloosa County.
Nielson said it’s likely that the Bridge Authority “will mount an opposition” to the proposal in an effort to keep its autonomy.
“I would hope that our local legislative people, Rep. Matt Gaetz and Sen. Don Gaetz, would come to our rescue,” he added.
Don Gaetz, the Senate president, has criticized the Bridge Authority in the past for its overhead and administrative expenses. He said he still has to review the DOT’s proposal.
He also said he would like to know how the new regional tollway authority would function differently from the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority, which spans Escambia to Wakulla County.
“It seems there are a lot of questions to be asked and answered before Secretary Prasad’s proposal would get all the way through the Senate,” Gaetz said.
He said he expects the proposal to get a sponsor, after which he would refer it to the Senate Transportation Committee.
“I think we should look at every opportunity to reduce duplicative government overhead,” Gaetz said. “And we should look at every opportunity to use the lowest possible interest rate on transportation bonding so that we can build more roads for the same amount of money.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.