Coalition Urges Commissioners to Reject Four-Lane Highway Plan

Dear Mayor Scholl and County Commissioners:

The 24 undersigned organizations, representing many thousands of Keys residents, strongly oppose the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment that would eliminate the existing prohibition on widening the Overseas Highway to four lanes and thereby grant FDOT the unilateral authority to expand the Overseas Highway to four lanes (agenda item Q1 for the September 10 BOCC meeting).

Our organizations support protecting the unique quality of life the Keys’ communities cherish, advocating for thoughtful and sustainable development rather than unchecked growth, and fiercely safeguarding our fragile natural environment. Four-laning the Overseas Highway would undermine all of these priorities. These are not narrow or special-interest concerns. They are the core values that represent the interests of your entire constituency and reflect the vision our communities have worked hard to define. This is reflected by the vote of the Planning Commission which recommends denial of this amendment, as well as public comment which has unanimously opposed the passage of the amendment.

This amendment, which was put forward without meaningful analysis from transportation experts, environmental scientists, or community planners, is not a simple tweak to a plan; it is a fundamental change that will shape the character of the Keys for generations and, unfortunately, not for the better.

This amendment should be rejected for the reasons discussed below.

1.  Loss of Local Control

This amendment would surrender local control over Overseas Highway land-use decisions to FDOT, where decisions can be made without regard for local context.

We elect our county representatives to protect our residents and preserve our community’s character, not to relinquish decision-making power to a non-legislative, non-elected arm of the state. The Overseas Highway is “Main Street” for neighborhoods and communities throughout the Keys; its future should be in local hands.  The BOCC should stand firmly against still another attempt at state preemption of local control.

2.  Induced Demand and Overdevelopment

The notion that adding lanes will reduce congestion is disproven by decades of transportation research. Adding roadway capacity almost always leads to more development and more traffic, in a phenomenon known as “induced demand.” When road capacity increases, people drive more, and congestion quickly returns to the same level (or worse). Most studies show at least a 1% increase in driving for every 1% increase in highway capacity.

Congestion isn’t the core problem, unchecked overdevelopment is. Adding lanes only enables more growth, while the real failure lies in the County and municipalities allowing development to outpace infrastructure, degrading traffic and quality of life.

3.  Community Impact and Public Safety

Four-laning the Overseas Highway would transform the character of our communities by turning our main street into a faster, louder, and more dangerous corridor. Sidewalks, bike lanes, and roadside parking would be reduced or removed, pushing homes and businesses closer to loud, speeding traffic. This widening would physically divide neighborhoods rather than connect them.

• Pedestrians, cyclists, and schoolchildren face increased danger crossing or traveling alongside the highway

• Two additional lanes in many areas would lead to more crashes, injuries, and fatalities caused by the added difficulties in crossing and turning onto and off the highway

• Loss of sidewalks, bike lanes, and safe access to local businesses

• Communities fractured by a widened highway, undermining neighborhood cohesion and quality of life

4.  Hurricane Evacuation Reality

Proponents argue that four-laning the highway will improve hurricane evacuation. But that’s simply not true unless the entire Keys and the entire 18-Mile Stretch are widened, which is simply not feasible.  What it will do is create new bottlenecks, which would contribute to accidents that delay evacuation. Worse yet, the additional development spurred by four-laning would bring more vehicles onto already crowded evacuation routes.

• Partial widening creates dangerous merging bottlenecks that slow traffic

• Increased development adds more cars, increasing evacuation demand

• No relief for the most critical choke points

There are a number of reasons why it is extremely unlikely that the entire Overseas Highway will ever be able to be widened to four lanes, including resistance and eminent domain concerns in Islamorada and the enormous cost of widening our longest bridges.

5.  Environmental Degradation

The Overseas Highway cannot be expanded without profound, permanent destruction of invaluable natural resources. Expanding the highway would mean filling wetlands, mangroves, and scarce upland habitat. Once lost, this habitat is gone for good, along with the vital services they provide, such as flood protection, erosion control, and wildlife habitat.

The environmental damage wouldn’t be contained to the construction zone; it would ripple outward, degrading water quality, fragmenting habitats, and eroding the natural beauty that defines the Keys.

• Displacement of wetlands, mangroves, and critical native habitat

• Replacement of native habitats with fill, which will lead to greater erosion

• Loss of natural green buffers that shield communities from flooding and storm surge

• Increased stormwater runoff carrying harmful pollutants into our fragile nearshore waters

6. Construction Disruptions

Road construction in the Keys is slow and difficult, often disrupting essential services like water, electricity, and wastewater. Because asphalt plants and paving contractors are located on the mainland, schedules are unpredictable and delays are common. Widening the Overseas Highway would mean a massive, years-long construction project that worsens daily traffic and slows hurricane evacuations for years to come. The County would have limited, if any, power to control these impacts.

7.  Ignores the Real Problem — and the Proven Solution

The congestion we see today is not an accident. It's the direct result of unmanaged growth and overdevelopment. Rather than addressing these root causes, this amendment proposes a costly and disruptive fix that won’t improve traffic where congestion is worst.

The worst congestion on the Overseas Highway is concentrated in areas in or near the Keys’ employment centers.  Widening the highway introduces a host of negative consequences while ignoring a solution already built into our Comprehensive Plan.  The Comprehensive Plan directs us to expand public transit, which is proven more effective, more environmentally responsible, and safer than simply adding lanes. Public transit can reduce congestion, protect our fragile environment, and preserve the unique character of the Keys without all the adverse consequences of widening the highway that are discussed above.

In conclusion, this Comprehensive Plan amendment would cost billions, relinquish local control, fragment communities, destroy critical habitats, increase public safety risks, and fuel unchecked development, all while failing to solve the congestion issues it claims to address. The documented harms are extensive and clear. The promised benefits remain vague, unproven, and often contradicted by evidence.

We strongly urge you to follow the recommendations of your Planning Commission and the public comments that have unanimously urged you to do the same.  Please reject this amendment and recommit to the Comprehensive Plan’s proven path toward safety, sustainability, and protection of the Florida Keys’ unique environment and way of life.

Respectfully submitted:

1000 Friends of Florida, Coastlove, Cudjoe Gardens Property Owners Association, Florida Keys Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, Florida Keys Citizens Coalition, Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, Friends of the Lower Keys (FOLKs), Hammer Point Owners Association, Islamorada Community Alliance, Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowner Associations, Key Deer Protection Alliance, Keys Accountability Project, Last Stand, Lower Keys Guides Association, Pirates Saving Paradise, Protect Our Residential Neighborhoods, Reef Relief, Save-A-Turtle of the Florida Keys, Save Our Key Deer, South Point Homeowners, Stock Island Association, Sugarloaf Shores Property Owners Association, Tavernier Community Association, Upper Sugarloaf Residents Association