Dear Editor,
I totally agreed with Steven King’s March 21 letter, “Common sense needed for Highway 90,” detailing priority and constructive reasoning for choosing one of the routes through historic Milton, currently under consideration by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). As I’ve written before, a new bridge across Blackwater River going west to Berryhill Road is the most economically feasible and least disruptive of the several choices FDOT will be making soon. The new bridge plan will spread out traffic flowing through the historic district and changing traffic to a “one-way” on Berryhill Road will allow for the quickest hurricane evacuation from the county’s south end to the north up Highway 87. Also, the idea of re-zoning the enlarged historic area to commercial, but holding property taxes at current levels until sold for commercial development is a great idea. This possible change will not only benefit current homeowners now and in the future when they sell for a higher value, but also will increase future property tax revenues.
Concerning the idea of building a downtown courthouse within a crowded flood-zone, I have to wonder just how many millions of dollars this study and the architectural re-designs will cost the taxpayers? All this news about the moisture and mold in the Federal Courthouse in Escambia County, makes me wonder if mold could be a concern in Santa Rosa? Would it be less expensive to build a new building rather than trying to deconstruct an old building and bring this building up to current standards, for not only functionality but also health and safety?
Bill Calfee
Milton
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Constructive reasoning for Highway 90 necessary