M-CORES toll road victory
On June 28, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 100, which is a partial repeal of the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) toll road bill that passed in 2019.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and the No Roads To Ruin Coalition have been working diligently to oppose these unnecessary and cost-prohibitive toll roads that would have spanned the length of Florida and impacted thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive uplands and wetlands.
While this bill will retrofit existing roadways and potentially still threatens environmentally valuable lands and rural communities along U.S. 19 in north central Florida, the southwest-central Florida corridor has been eliminated. This is a victory for South Florida’s wetlands, water quality, and for the Florida panther, which was uniquely threatened by M-CORES.
The SCCF thanks all of our members who voiced their opposition to this project. Your involvement was critical in this positive outcome.
For more legislative updates, visit the SCCF’s Legislative Tracker at www.sccf.org/our-work/environmental-policy.
Holly Schwartz is a policy associate for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. Founded in 1967, the SCCF’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.