That's a different issue altogether.

For those of us that go to Ocala or Gainesville on a regular basis, there's almost always a slowdown through Ocala and south of Ocala especially southbound in the afternoon and evening. For those going to Oxford, FL or the northern parts of TV, the only option from I-75 is to exit at SR 484, or go down to Wildwood and exit at SR 44. That's a huge gap between exits considering the population in the surrounding areas.

Interchanges Won’t Solve Traffic
 

More exits and entrances won’t solve the volume of traffic. 301 and 75 need widened all the way to Ocala. The bottleneck is atrocious and should be fixed through eminent domain, construction, and expediency by the state of Florida.

Developer has huge power in Florida.

Generally speaking if he wants it he gets it.

Florida, like every other state, has a list of 100's and probably thousands of proposed highway projects. Every city and county believes that their pet highway project is the most important one in the state. There aren't enough construction companies to do all these projects in the time frame everyone wants it done. There also isn't nearly enough money available to fund all of them in the time frame everyone demands they be completed in. Additionally, the highway dept can't just decide they are going to put an exit on a federal highway. The feds have to approve it, environmental studies have to be conducted, and it takes time for eminent domain to obtain any land from private owners. On top of that all it takes is one individual to make the claim that they observed a protected species that would be affected in that area. They aren't required to provide proof of this claim, but the state will have to conduct a study to prove or disprove the claim. Then if it is finally approved the project will go on the list of things to do but will be scheduled after any previously approved projects.
As far as the Morse family just snapping their fingers and the state jumps to their demand, please!!!! They may have a bit of pull with the state, but they aren't the only deep pockets in the state and there are some that have even more pull. Do you really think a county representative from the panhandle, or the Keys will worry about upsetting the Morse Family? Every county rep wants to the bring home the bacon to their constituents and they will fight tooth and nail to get what they want.

I may be mistaken but I think that since the interstate system is Federal there are a lot of Federal matching funds that make such projects possible. In the past few years here in Ocala there have been several road projects that built bike paths and crosswalks along major roadways. Very few people are using the new crosswalks and bike paths that cost millions to build. Perhaps that's where the money went.

Ocala news
 

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(It may say your browser is not supported but the link worked for me)

22 years ago
 

I’m thinking any ideas or plans made more than 20 years ago aren’t relevant to today’s world. Most of the politicians and state workers back then that were involved have since retired. Back then the Developer had promised they weren’t going to develop south of 466 and the population of the Villages was almost 20,000 people? But hey, we survived Y2K and cell phones were bigger.

Combine that with the very long time for road construction to be completed…yep, I will be dead by the time it is completed.

Somebody should create a proposal to build a new interchange.

OP is correct. It seemed a “done deal” 10-12 years ago that 466 would have an exit on to I75. In short, It didn’t happen and The Villages Developer moved on south. With Costco coming it could really happen this time around.

That said, highways can never keep pace with “uncontrolled” growth. Florida, since the 60’s, fits that picture. Answers: 1. Manage the population growth. (Politically not feasible because taxes would necessarily be raised in Florida- but nice try. ) 2. Short term: More lanes where I75 and Turnpike merge and the 466 exit on to I75 while at the same time widening I 75 to eight lanes to north of Ocala. 3. Longer term goal: Extend turnpike west and north to Interstate 10 easing I75 traffic a bit. “You’re never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream” C.W. Lewis.

Oh Gosh. We will NEVER be able to get out of our Village then, sigh.

You win my Blue Ribbon for that post!