It seemed that the entire population was traveling the Florida Turnpike last weekend. I know because it took about 6 hours to travel what usually takes about 3 1/2 hours. All I can say is "What a Rip Off!"
Unfortunately, the most direct route to get where we wanted to go is the Turnpike. Unfortunately, the rest of Florida agreed with me last week.
Were fewer people flying? Was it more people were willing to spend money in Orlando? Whatever the cause, more people were on the Turnpike, the South Florida - Orlando corridor portion of it anyway. So there we were, 3 adults and a woozle stuck on the FL Tpk going about 20 miles an hour...with the next exit about 40 miles away.
It wasn't pretty.
Toward evening, Southbound wasn't much prettier.
What really struck me is the poor amenities for paying a premium to travel the regressively taxed road. You'd think that $10-15 for the South Florida/Orlando corridor multiplied by thousands of vehicles every day would lead to 3 lanes between South Florida and Orlando, but no, it doesn't. The wider road bed is already there. It's not like it's going to further damage the Everglades to widen the road. The current construction projects are widening the Turnpike North of Orlando (which is good) and some widening in other areas, but that stretch between PGA Blvd and Kissimmee is dangerous. It's poorly lit at night. Wild animals escape from the area farms and run across the road at night. I totaled a car there at midnight some years back due to hitting one of these animals (fence wasn't maintained) and the FHP officer was very disappointed she couldn't figure out a way to give me a ticket. I was disappointed in that I couldn't sue the FL Tpk for a new car. (We now try to travel the corridor during day light.)
The bulk of Florida's Turnpike tolls are collected in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties and there's an equity formula that makes sure that a great deal of that money stays in South Florida. The thing is, many of us travel to Orlando regularly and we'd like that part of the Turnpike improved. On the flip side there's a lot of southbound traffic to the Ports of Miami and Everglades for cruise ships and others going to the Keys that would also like this part of the road improved. The turnpike generates a good deal of news, controversy and consternation, but, alas; we aren't getting three lanes in both directions between PGA Blvd and Kissimmee.
Instead of increasing the road to 3 lanes in both directions, we're getting a 40,000 foot restaurant expansion at 2 of the service plazas where travel fatigue is at it's greatest and "facelifts" at 4 others. Be still, my beating heart! We aren't getting more lights. We aren't getting a wider road. We aren't getting better fences to keep the wild boars off the road. We're getting greater access to a limited choice of high fat, high sodium and low nutrition foods. Hmmmm, that will still my heart. Maybe a stop at Yeehaw Junction is the better idea. The billboards for the town formerly known as Jackass Crossing are fewer. The Great Recession has closed the Tourist Information Center, but the Bluegrass Festival lives on. Yet, here I go on about stopping on the Florida Turnpike, when what I really want to do is GO!
It just seems to me that the customers using a road system that generates over $600 million a year in revenues, but costs less than $350 million a year to maintain deserves better service. You'd think that close to a 60% profit margin would lead to expansion that would increase business. Florida's Turnpike is one of the higher rates, so it's not like the money isn't there. You can't tell me that the PTB's in Tallahassee don't know a huge chunk of Florida's population wants a wider Tpk between South Florida and Orlando. I think they also know we want the Bee Line to go from Orlando to I-75 too.
On the way back to South Florida it still took 4 1/2 hours instead of the normal 3 1/2 hours to go 240 highway miles. Along with several thousand other motorists, we left the Florida Turnpike at Ft. Pierce and moved over to I-95 a "free" Southbound road. For 20 miles or so it was gratifying to see I was able to go the speed limit of 70 MPH in 3-4 Southbound lanes while the turnpike intermittently slowed down to 20 MPH or a full stop with 2 southbound lanes. I whizzed by and was glad that I wasn't on that parking lot, aka the Florida Turnpike.
What is the total cost to Florida's Turnpike Revenue collections? Who knows, but if the loss of about $62 million between 2008 and 2009 is any indication, quite a few of us made that same assessment last Sunday; get on or off at Ft. Pierce.