Private resistance in Florida

Protesters are trying to discourage Florida’s plan to privatize a 78-mile section of I-75, known as Alligator Alley.

The state would still own the road, but a private company would operate and maintain it behind a lease of 50 years or more. A study conducted a year ago revealed leasing the famous stretch would produce $504 million in short-term revenue.

Motorists with SunPass already pay $2 in tolls driving Alligator Alley, and citizens groups like the Citizen Transportation Coalition of Collier County are concerned money generated from the lease would be used for other roads. They also questioned why the state would want to sell a profitable roadway.

“We’re selling our assets for a short-term cash infusion,” Gina Downs, a member of the Citizen Transportation Coalition of Collier County, told the Miami Herald.

Despite public resistance, proposals from private companies are currently being accepted, but a final decision may not be made until fall.

“Either we accept tolls and build more facilities, or those facilities won’t happen,” Jim Wolfe, Florida DOT secretary for the district that includes Alligator Alley, told the public forum.