First question: Repair or widen?

Welcome to Tuesday! Here’s one of those Citrus County chicken-egg questions:

Which is worse — traffic on the roads, or condition of the roads?

It’s an important question, and the answer may help determine whether the One for All sales tax referendum repairs our existing roads, or carves out new ones.

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The local option sales tax survey, which will be presented to the County Commission on Sept. 23, showed 59% of the 500-plus respondents were open to a referendum to raise the sales tax from 6% to 7%.

Asked how the money should be spent, repairing roads received the most votes and widening roads the second most.

Can a sales tax do both? Let’s break it down.

First off, the numbers. According to town hall presentations, the county’s top unfunded need is $300 million for backlogged road maintenance. That number includes residential road resurfacing which, frankly, skewers the result. Commissioner Janet Barek’s thoughts aside, the voting public has never supported a sales tax for residential roads, and I’m not sure they’re crazy about it now.

Not dismissing residential roads, but it doesn’t fit the One for All criteria that everyone benefits from these projects. So, for today’s discussion, we’re just going to place residential roads off to the side.

The repair focus targets roads most of us travel. All the county numbered roads. The roads in and out of neighborhoods. South Apopka, Orange Avenue, Dunkenfield, Gospel Island Road, Stage Coach, Ozello Trail, and others that are a clunker to drive on.

These roads need significant attention, and soon. They qualify for state SCOP (Small Communities Outreach Program) funding, but that amount dwindles each year and we’ll lose eligibility once our population hits 200,000.

A One for All repair approach takes care of current needs.

The One for All widen approach is much different.

Of course, C.R. 491 gets all the widening glory. Don’t hear much chatter about other roads. Sure, we’ve long looked at Croft Avenue for widening, but not in a serious manner for quite some time. Nope, widening 491 between Pine Ridge Boulevard and S.R. 200 is our top road expansion priority. Estimated cost: $250 million.

I’m looking forward to this conversation. Much of the 491 widening support comes from the business community. There’s also a significant amount of frustration from citizens about the Hampshire/491 intersection. And, of course, no one knows what Tuscany Ranch brings to the entire matter.

Survey respondents have concerns about whether the county government is placating development at our behest. Citizens may wonder if widening 491 will only lead to unbridled growth.

I get it, but I don’t. Here’s an illustration.

I recall a debate, many years ago, about replacing septic tanks with sewers in neighborhoods west of U.S. 19. While this would not seem debatable — septic tanks are a significant source of coastal pollution — some environmental leaders at the time were opposed because they thought it would spur growth.

We may hear similar arguments with 491. The road slices through our midsection in an area planned for high-density residential growth.  Plus, the powers-that-be have hopes for an industrial park in Holder; those hopes diminish with a two-laned 491.

The citizens of our community are as anti-growth today as I’ve ever seen. They’re tired of hearing politicians say, “Growth is here, can’t stop it,” without any input about what it looks like. The fact that the county is about to spend north of $500,000 on a consultant to update the comprehensive plan shows just how disconnected politicians are to the realities the rest of us face.

Improving the condition of our road network, including intersections, seems like a laudable sales tax goal. We all drive the roads. We’re all frustrated with the quality of those drives.

Widening 491? That’s a separate conversation.

One that we haven’t yet had.

Have a spectacular Tuesday, friends.

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