Investor-pikes in Florida, Alabama:Investor-built toll projec

Investor-pikes in Florida, Alabama

Investor-built toll projects are on the roll in FL and AL. Paul Rhodes a developer in St Lucie Co (half way up the Atlantic coast of the state) is working on a 5km (3mi) toll road costing $24m between Florida’s Turnpike and I-95. He’s not talking much about it yet but he’s hoping it will be a standalone toll project and also enhance the value of land along the road. A somewhat similar project is called the Foley Beach Expressway near Foley, Baldwin Co AL midway between Pensacola Fl and Mobile AL. Construction of this one is under way already and involves a new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to Orange Beach. Two investors have pooled their resources to finance the bridge which they will toll. They’ll also build 11km (6.5mi) of approach road which they’ll match up with a Foley city arterial, and deed over to the city. The area is seeking major new developments and the new arterial will provide a handsome gateway to these – as well as an extra hurricane escape route for people living on the beaches.

Meanwhile the pioneer investor-tollster Jim Allen, United Toll Systems, in Montgomery AL says his three toll bridges are all doing “real well.” He says all three are “meeting forecasts” for both revenue and costs. The 4-year old Wetumpka bridge is now producing a profit. The one year old Alabama River Parkway has a positive cash flow, while the 8-month old Black River Parkway in Tuscaloosa is looking good. The first provides access to an estate Allen developed, the second is a shortcut and a timesaver for an established suburban commuter route while the third is a development road, bypass and airport access route. He spent $3m, $12m and $18m on building the three bridges. He got local governments to pay for most of the road connections. Each is presently on a 75c toll but he owns the stuff outright – no concession – so he can charge what the traffic will bear.

Allen says there is a lot of interest in a complete basic toll system package he is marketing – including mechanicals of the collector cash register, gate arms, patron displays, loops, treadles, through the lane controller and toll management software, in which he says he invested a lot of expensive programmer time. He put the thing together for himself but is now putting it on the market. He says he looked at what was available and there wasn’t anything that made sense for smaller toll operations, that made full use of cheap PCs. It is designed for everything from 2 or 3 toll lanes up to about 40 or 50 lanes. (Contacts Paul Rhodes 561 659 5400, John McInnes 334 264 3474 Mci1999@aol.com, Jim Allen 334 567 2001 www.unitedtoll.com)