50 Years of Florida Turnpike history.

Florida after World War II was booming. In South Florida, longtime Floridian and businessman Charles B. Koster watched this growth and saw the congestion and overburdened roads that came with it. While vacationing in Pennsylvania, he traveled the Pennsylvania Turnpike and developed a vision of building Florida a toll road of its own. The 1950s brought with it a series of changes, both earth-shattering and sublime. Yet even before cars grew fins, the wheels were in motion for impressive developments in Florida's network of roadways. Charles B. Koster led a group of citizens in 1953 to lobby the state to implement his vision of Florida's first toll road and the legislature listened. It created the Florida State Turnpike Authority. Much of the credit for the successful building of the Turnpike goes to another South Floridian named Thomas B. Manuel, chairman of the Florida State Turnpike Authority from 1955 to 1961. He would later be known as the father of the Turnpike. In June 1955, bonds were issued and on July 4th, Governor Leroy Collins broke ground, proclaiming, we must bring forth a highway that is fine and good in every detail. Less than two years later, on January 25th, 1957, the Sunshine State Parkway, running from Miami to Fort Pierce, opened to motorists. The time the Sunshine State Parkway opened, Elvis Presley's latest chart toppers could be heard on new transistor radios and Ike had just been sworn in for a second term. The 57 Chevy could be ordered with air conditioning, a two speaker radio and auto dimming headlights. Yet, with all the new conveniences of modern life available to Floridians, most had never driven on a turnpike. Fortunately, local newspapers were there to help. Articles began popping up offering tips and warnings to new turnpike drivers. But despite the gloom and doom, people were genuinely excited by the turnpike. In the two years since it opened, the Sunshine State Parkway was already flourishing. As other road projects struggled to find funding, the turnpike was years ahead of its financial goals. For Governor Leroy Collins, the expanding Interstates 95 and 75 eliminated the need for a turnpike north of Orlando. Instead, he saw an extension from Fort Pierce inland as the next great opportunity for the road to grow, and soon bonds were sold and work was underway. In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize. The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan Show, and the first Ford Mustang rolled off the assembly line. That year also marked the opening of the extension from Fort Pierce to Orlando. By the time Walt Disney World started construction in 1967, in a location Walt himself called the crossroads of Florida, where I-4 and the turnpike intersect, motorists could travel on a continuous route from Macon to Miami. Not only was this new extension a success, it fostered more growth. Soon, there were plans for a homestead extension to Florida's turnpike, known as the Heft, and the Beeline West Expressway. In July of 1969, the original Turnpike Authority was disbanded, and a new, reorganized Florida's turnpike was made part of the recently created Florida Department of Transportation. The Turnpike Authority had found success during its 16 years by managing itself as a business and focusing on the customer. The Heft and Beeline Expressways were completed just as the major attractions of Disney World and SeaWorld lured even more tourists to Florida's roads. 1986 found Florida's turnpike at a crossroads. Would the destiny of the turnpike be status quo or innovation? A study by the FDOT called the future of Florida's turnpike had the answer. The legislature created a more flexible and autonomous Office of the Turnpike, and the new agency would begin an aggressive program that re-embraced its role as a transportation leader. Freshly appointed FDOT Secretary Ben Watts and new Turnpike Director Jim Ely directed the sale of 220 million dollars of bonds to upgrade the system, improve interchanges, widen roads, and renovate service plazas. Toll plazas on the main line were completely rehabilitated, replacing in some cases the original 1957 equipment. The gears were in motion now for an era of turnpike expansion and innovation that continues today. Florida's turnpike began 1990 with nine candidate expansion projects and 15 new interchanges on deck, and the keys to the 23-mile Sawgrass Expressway purchased from the Broward County Expressway Authority. By July 1991, the first four of those interchanges were complete, with construction on the remaining 11 underway. Financing was raised for the Seminole Expressway and the Veterans Expressway. These projects would be the first new corridor construction in 20 years for the turnpike. On August 24th, 1992, Hurricane Andrew tore a path through South Florida. As an organization that prides itself on the well-being of its customers, the turnpike lifted tolls in South Florida for 77 days and played a key role in supporting emergency response efforts. By 1996, revenues were double what they'd been in 1990, and as the century closed, the turnpike broke ground on the Suncoast Parkway and completed the Polk Parkway. It also debuted the future of tolling on turnpike systems. SunPass. As Florida's turnpike neared its 50th anniversary, it was called on by Governor Jeb Bush to once more reorganize and re-embrace the private sector business practices that characterized its early years. With the birth of the enterprise, the turnpike renewed its commitment to quality of service to the customer and began a renewed program of innovation and fiscal responsibility. Today, Florida's turnpike mainline, its extensions, and other toll roads take motorists from the top of the Florida Keys up to I-75 north of Orlando. But with 18 million residents and 66 million visitors annually, the necessity of expanding the transportation system to keep goods and people moving is more prominent than ever in Florida. The next 50 years of Florida's turnpike will be marked by major investments in technology and a broader adoption of user-financed transportation throughout the state. In 20 years, paying tolls with cash on turnpike roads will be a thing of the past. New transportation concepts like managed express lanes in the medians of congested urban interstates will turn frustrated commuters into satisfied turnpike customers. And the turnpike enterprise will seek out other transportation agencies to help provide seamless transportation solutions for the future of Florida. Today, what started as a road from Fort Pierce to Miami has grown into a system that runs through 16 counties and serves over 2 million customers a day. The success of Florida and Florida's turnpike is inextricably linked, and both are very bright indeed.