Florida's Turnpike opening another transponder-only interchange - funded by developers
Posted Wed, 2007-05-09 19:54
Florida Turnpike is getting another transponder-only interchange May 11 - this one at Becker Road in St Lucie County at Mile Post (MP) 138. The interchange being called Exit 138 has cost around $20m and was totally funded by developers through a Special Assessment District administered by the City of Port St Lucie.
It is the first interchange totally funded by developers on Florida's Turnpike. The interchange is located almost midway along a 15km (9 mile) stretch of the Turnpike between the exits of FL714 Stuart at MP133 and the Port St Lucie Blvd interchange at MP142.
Becker Road interchange is the third transponder-only (branded "SunPass Only") interchange on the Turnpike. A similar interchange without cash collection opened at MP107 at FL710, the Bee Line Highway in August 2006. This is located in a 16km (10 mile) stretch of highway just 3km (2 miles) from an existing full interchange with cash collection.
Another interchange in the Kissimmee/Orlando area at MP255 has a southbound transponder-only exit ramp to FL528 of OOCEA and US routes 17, 92 and 441.
A fourth interchange with some movements transponder-only is under construction at Jog Road, MP98 in West Palm Beach and due to open in the summer or fall this year. The M98 IC is within a mile of interchanges handling cash on either side.
No more cash collection to be built
Turnpike spokesman Sonyha Rodriguez Miller says Florida Turnpike Enterprise which runs the Turnpike is not building any new toll plazas with cash collection. She says cash collection is expected to be totally gone within ten years so the Turnpike feels spending money on new toll booths and cash handling equipment is not justified.
Developers funding Becker Road
Funding for the Becker Rd project comes from the Tesoro Special Assessment District named after the posh Tesoro development nearby
being built by The Ginn Company. The District is putting up $20m for the interchange and a similar amount of money for other roads in the area including upgrades to Becker Road. For the interchange the Ginn Company is ponying up $3.9m and another big local developer Huizenga Holdings another $3.9m. About $12m of borrowed funds have been spent by the Assessment District which will be repaid from a fee or levy on the sale of each unit in the Ginn and Huizenga developments.
The developer financed district is administered by the city of Port St Lucie which managed construction of the interchange, assembling land, hiring engineers, getting bids and managing construction. The assessment district is even paying for the electronic toll systems on three ramps. There are simple diamond interchange ramps for entry and exit on the west side of the Turnpike and an exit loop and straight on-ramp on the east side which merge to allow a single toll gantry.
The interchange work involved major reconstruction and widening of the bridge over the Turnpike as well as the ramps.
Joseph Hansen of the Turnpike said the interchange could not be justified by the extra toll revenue and so could not be financed by the Turnpike Enterprise. About 5k veh/day are expected to use the interchange each day compared to 16k that presently use the Port St Lucie Blvd interchange to the north.
 He said the Turnpike reviewed the plans and approved them, and kept a watch on progress but was left the job to the developers and the city to execute. Even the opening ceremony will be organized and paid for by the developers. A famous motocross bike racer will open the interchange by driving his motorbike through the ribbon at high speed.
Under an agreement with the assessment district and the city the Turnpike will now take over the interchange and operate and maintain it.
For the developers the interchange makes their property more saleable. It is just 360m (1,200ft) from the entrance to Tesoro development. They have used the interchange as a major sales point. Many of the new residents are likely to want to use the Turnpike for trips to and from the more established Palm Beach area which has the closest major airport.
The developers and the city are developing Becker Road as a 2x2 lane boulevard with attractive landscaping and finishes including beautiful circles - no awful signalized intersections.
Becker Road is also getting a new interchange with I-95 just a few miles west.
BACKGROUND:
Florida's Turnpike Mainline at 309 miles (497km) is one of the longest single tollroads in the US, only the New York State Thruway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike being longer. The turnpike has 38 interchanges. It has barrier systems at either end and a ticket or trip based toll system in the middle. It goes from the Golden Glades interchange just north of Miami up the coast parallel with I-95 northward to the North Palm Beach/Jupiter area, then it diverges of I-95 heading northwesterly right through the middle of the Orlando area to end at Wildwood on I-75. It is the major truck route from Atlanta and carries long doubles.
Bobby Ginn founder and president of The Ginn Company began his career in construction working for his father in the small town of Hampton SC, building four or five houses a year. His business grew to 700 houses a year and he began developing apartment buildings, shopping centers and industrial warehouses. Then he got into golf courses and spent most of his time in Hilton Head SC, developing and operating golf courses and hotels.
He appeared on Florida's real estate scene in the late 1990s, launching the development of the Hammock Beach community in Palm Coast. Since incorporating in 1998, Ginn has developed more than a half dozen upscale golf resort communities, selling thousands of homesites and condominiums.
He's said the first thing he did after he looked at the site for Tesoro was to call Jim Ely of the Turnpike and ask him if he could build him an interchange.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-05-09
Florida Turnpike is getting another transponder-only interchange May 11 - this one at Becker Road in St Lucie County at Mile Post (MP) 138. The interchange being called Exit 138 has cost around $20m and was totally funded by developers through a Special Assessment District administered by the City of Port St Lucie.It is the first interchange totally funded by developers on Florida's Turnpike. The interchange is located almost midway along a 15km (9 mile) stretch of the Turnpike between the exits of FL714 Stuart at MP133 and the Port St Lucie Blvd interchange at MP142.
Becker Road interchange is the third transponder-only (branded "SunPass Only") interchange on the Turnpike. A similar interchange without cash collection opened at MP107 at FL710, the Bee Line Highway in August 2006. This is located in a 16km (10 mile) stretch of highway just 3km (2 miles) from an existing full interchange with cash collection.
Another interchange in the Kissimmee/Orlando area at MP255 has a southbound transponder-only exit ramp to FL528 of OOCEA and US routes 17, 92 and 441.
A fourth interchange with some movements transponder-only is under construction at Jog Road, MP98 in West Palm Beach and due to open in the summer or fall this year. The M98 IC is within a mile of interchanges handling cash on either side. No more cash collection to be built
Turnpike spokesman Sonyha Rodriguez Miller says Florida Turnpike Enterprise which runs the Turnpike is not building any new toll plazas with cash collection. She says cash collection is expected to be totally gone within ten years so the Turnpike feels spending money on new toll booths and cash handling equipment is not justified.
Developers funding Becker Road
Funding for the Becker Rd project comes from the Tesoro Special Assessment District named after the posh Tesoro development nearby
being built by The Ginn Company. The District is putting up $20m for the interchange and a similar amount of money for other roads in the area including upgrades to Becker Road. For the interchange the Ginn Company is ponying up $3.9m and another big local developer Huizenga Holdings another $3.9m. About $12m of borrowed funds have been spent by the Assessment District which will be repaid from a fee or levy on the sale of each unit in the Ginn and Huizenga developments.The developer financed district is administered by the city of Port St Lucie which managed construction of the interchange, assembling land, hiring engineers, getting bids and managing construction. The assessment district is even paying for the electronic toll systems on three ramps. There are simple diamond interchange ramps for entry and exit on the west side of the Turnpike and an exit loop and straight on-ramp on the east side which merge to allow a single toll gantry.
The interchange work involved major reconstruction and widening of the bridge over the Turnpike as well as the ramps.
Joseph Hansen of the Turnpike said the interchange could not be justified by the extra toll revenue and so could not be financed by the Turnpike Enterprise. About 5k veh/day are expected to use the interchange each day compared to 16k that presently use the Port St Lucie Blvd interchange to the north.
 He said the Turnpike reviewed the plans and approved them, and kept a watch on progress but was left the job to the developers and the city to execute. Even the opening ceremony will be organized and paid for by the developers. A famous motocross bike racer will open the interchange by driving his motorbike through the ribbon at high speed.
Under an agreement with the assessment district and the city the Turnpike will now take over the interchange and operate and maintain it.
For the developers the interchange makes their property more saleable. It is just 360m (1,200ft) from the entrance to Tesoro development. They have used the interchange as a major sales point. Many of the new residents are likely to want to use the Turnpike for trips to and from the more established Palm Beach area which has the closest major airport. The developers and the city are developing Becker Road as a 2x2 lane boulevard with attractive landscaping and finishes including beautiful circles - no awful signalized intersections.
Becker Road is also getting a new interchange with I-95 just a few miles west.
BACKGROUND:
Florida's Turnpike Mainline at 309 miles (497km) is one of the longest single tollroads in the US, only the New York State Thruway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike being longer. The turnpike has 38 interchanges. It has barrier systems at either end and a ticket or trip based toll system in the middle. It goes from the Golden Glades interchange just north of Miami up the coast parallel with I-95 northward to the North Palm Beach/Jupiter area, then it diverges of I-95 heading northwesterly right through the middle of the Orlando area to end at Wildwood on I-75. It is the major truck route from Atlanta and carries long doubles.
Bobby Ginn founder and president of The Ginn Company began his career in construction working for his father in the small town of Hampton SC, building four or five houses a year. His business grew to 700 houses a year and he began developing apartment buildings, shopping centers and industrial warehouses. Then he got into golf courses and spent most of his time in Hilton Head SC, developing and operating golf courses and hotels.
He appeared on Florida's real estate scene in the late 1990s, launching the development of the Hammock Beach community in Palm Coast. Since incorporating in 1998, Ginn has developed more than a half dozen upscale golf resort communities, selling thousands of homesites and condominiums.
He's said the first thing he did after he looked at the site for Tesoro was to call Jim Ely of the Turnpike and ask him if he could build him an interchange.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-05-09