Email the FDOT to Request the "No Build" Option for the I-95/Pioneer Trail Interchange

If built, this project and associated secondary impacts will bring about the loss of hundreds of acres of critical wetlands in Volusia County, FL, as well as destroy habitat corridors needed to maintain the health and biodiversity of Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve. Water quality in Spruce Creek is suffering, and if this interchange is built, it will invite more high-impact development and exacerbate the problem. Additionally, the price tag of $50+ million should not be burdened onto Florida taxpayers to destroy their own quality of life.

However, the Florida Department of Transportation is taking the public's opinion into account, but the deadline for comment is October 21. Please email the FDOT and demand the "No Build" option be chosen, especially since no nature overpass/underpass has been considered in the proposed designs. Details on the project can be found at the FDOT website here: https://www.cflroads.com/project/436292-1

Email the project manager Mary McGehee at: mary.mcgehee@dot.state.fl.us

Demand the "No Build" option for the interchange, and help protect Florida's dwindling ecosystems!

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Subject

Stop the Interchange (Project Number: 436292-1); Support the "No Build" Option

Message

Dear Ms. McGehee, I believe that the proposed highway interchange at Interstate-95 and Pioneer Trail in New Smyrna Beach is not in the public’s best interest, and that the “No Build” alternative is the one that should be implemented. I am concerned about the high cost (tens of millions of taxpayer dollars), reduction in quality of life, and most importantly, negative impacts to the environment that such a development would bring. I believe that the area on which the interchange is being proposed is land that is critical to the health and well-being of the Doris Leeper Spruce Creek Preserve and Spruce Creek itself, an Outstanding Florida Waterbody. Wetlands and forests serve important ecological functions that are of benefit to people and nature alike, including cleaning our air and water. Losing this valuable nature corridor to an interchange and subsequent high-impact developments is simply not worth it. Furthermore, the need for such an interchange has not been justified substantially enough, and local citizen input needs to be considered, as they have been fighting against it for over 30 years! Whether or not this interchange is built, I request that significant consideration be given instead to the installation of a Nature Overpass at or near this location to provide an adequate ecological connection between the coastal Spruce Creek Preserve and inland areas of Florida to maintain the area's biodiversity. Alternately, FDOT could help purchase some of the land for conservation, especially with local partners. Thank you for your consideration.

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