Gov. Ron DeSantis has tried to build a reputation as the “green governor” as he works to tackle the state’s water quality problems, but that image could be diminished after DeSantis signed a toll road bill Friday that is loathed by environmentalists.

Dubbed by one environmental advocate as the worst piece of legislation in decades, the toll road bill was the top priority of Senate President Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who argues the three new highways are needed to address the state’s growth.

DeSantis sided with Galvano over the environmental community Friday, saying he believes Florida’s road network needs to expand.

“I think we need new roads in Florida to get around,” DeSantis said Friday after an event in Sarasota where he signed a bill making texting while driving a primary offense.

DeSantis signed the toll road bill an hour later during a private event with Galvano that was not listed on the governor's official calendar.

The bill presented one of the toughest tests for a governor who has been in office just five months.

Polls show DeSantis is popular and much of that popularity stems from his eagerness to champion bipartisan ideas, including protecting the environment. But the toll road bill had some powerful backers, and DeSantis risked straining his relationship with Galvano and groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce if he opposed the legislation.

Supporters of the road bill note the state’s population growth is the equivalent of Florida gaining a city the size of Orlando every year. With many highways already clogged, backers say the new roads would alleviate traffic on existing thoroughfares, provide new hurricane evacuation routes and bring economic development to rural areas.


DeSantis said Florida needs to keep investing in infrastructure.

“We’re probably gonna need more than that just given how our state’s growing and just given that traffic can be a big problem and so I’m supportive of infrastructure,” DeSantis said Friday of the three new roads.

Environmentalists worry that the new roads will lead to massive sprawl that will degrade the state’s natural areas and alter the character of rural communities in a negative way. They mounted an aggressive campaign to get DeSantis to veto the bill.

A Sierra Club email sent out Friday morning slammed the road project.

“The urban sprawl that would accompany the new toll roads would be deadly, devouring hundreds of thousands of acres of rural and natural lands, fragmenting wildlife habitat, and polluting rivers, springs, lakes and coastal waters,” according to the email.

It will be years before construction begins on the new roads. First, transportation planners will assemble a series of task forces to study the exact routes that the roads should take and analyze other issues, including how to mitigate environmental concerns.

Galvano is proposing a road that would run 150 miles through the center of the state, connecting the Lakeland region with the Naples area. He also wants to extend the Suncoast Parkway from its current terminus north of Tampa another 150 miles to the Georgia border. A third road would extend Florida’s Turnpike to connect with the expanded Suncoast.