Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that he is permanently lowering the tolls on the Garcon Point Bridge and will begin the steps to purchase the bridge from the bondholders who own it and transfer ownership to the state of Florida.
DeSantis made the surprise announcement Wednesday morning at the bridge toll plaza in Milton, flanked by state Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, and state Reps. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, and Jayer Williamson, R-Pace.
Tolls will be lowered from $4.50 to $2.30 for SunPass holders, and from $5 to $2.75 for cash drivers.
The new toll schedule will be implemented during the next few weeks, according to Kevin J. Thibault, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, who also was at Wednesday morning's press conference.
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DeSantis said the move to lower the tolls comes in the wake of Hurricane Sally in September 2020, when several Skanska USA barges struck the Pensacola Bay Bridge that connects Gulf Breeze to Pensacola, shutting it down for more than eight months. While crews worked to repair the Pensacola Bay Bridge, drivers were forced to use the Garcon Point Bridge as an alternate route.
Through executive orders, DeSantis ordered the tolls suspended on the Garcon Point Bridge throughout the duration of the Pensacola Bay Bridge's repair. When the Pensacola Bay Bridge finally reopened May 28, tolls resumed on the Garcon Point Bridge.
“Now that the Pensacola Bay Bridge is reopened, we need to provide toll relief permanently for folks using the Garcon Point Bridge,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “So $5 is just too much for every time the over 6,000 drivers that use this bridge every day have to pay. When you think about it, someone makes $10 an hour, that’s one hour of their day just to pay to go do the transportation.”
DeSantis did not elaborate on how he's going to lower the tolls, since the state of Florida has been wrangling with the bridge's Missouri-based bondholders for the past several decades over the toll and the revenue from the bridge. DeSantis did not answer press questions Wednesday, although his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, sent the News Journal the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
"Governor DeSantis indicated that he’s asking FDOT to reach a settlement with the Trustee and bondholders to purchase the bridge and transfer control to Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise," Pushaw said in an email to the News Journal. "He has asked the Florida Legislature to codify these actions in law. This will ensure Floridians will be able to keep more of their hard earned money and pay a toll that is consistent with other FDOT toll facilities around the state."
A Tallahassee judge ruled in December 2019 that the Florida Department of Transportation was obligated to raise tolls on the privately owned Garcon Point Bridge, and by March 2020, the toll officially raised from $3.75 to $5.
While the bridge is privately owned, it is regularly maintained by the state of Florida.
DeSantis sounded optimistic, however, when he said he ordered Thibault to enter into a settlement agreement with UMB Bank, the corporation that represents the bondholders.
"These reduced toll rates are consistent with other FDOT toll facilities around the state, and the new rate erases 20 years of toll rate increases to this bridge," DeSantis said. "And to make sure these tolls remain at this lower rate, I’m also asking FDOT to reach a settlement with the trustee and the bondholders to purchase the bridge and transfer control to Florida’s Turnpike Enterprises."
The bondholders did not respond to the News Journal's request for comment Wednesday.
Broxson, who said he’s had “dozens of conversations” with the governor about the Garcon Point Bridge, said Wednesday that he’s thrilled to see a light at the end of the very messy tunnel.
“I think if there’s anything good to be said about Hurricane Sally, it’s that it introduced to us how important the Garcon Point Bridge is to us,” Broxson said. “Somewhere during the last nine months, he (DeSantis) saw the reality of what that bridge means, not only to Santa Rosa County but to everywhere in north Escambia, north Okaloosa and north Santa Rosa counties. That’s kind of the main street now from Milton to Tiger Point, Gulf Breeze and Navarre.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnBuai5jb20vc3RvcnkvZW50ZXJ0YWlubWVudC8yMDIxLzA3LzI4L2dhcmNvbi1wb2ludC1icmlkZ2UtdG9sbHMtZGVjcmVhc2luZy1zdGF0ZS1wbGFucy1idXktYnJpZGdlLzU0MDY3NTEwMDEv0gEiaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAucG5qLmNvbS9hbXAvNTQwNjc1MTAwMQ?oc=5
2021-07-28 20:20:59Z
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