Toll road could bring good things to Jackson County

Our neighbors to the south in Jackson County, Fla., have been given a tremendous gift thanks to the boneheaded vote of the year by the Washington County (Fla.) Commission.

As reported in the Eagle this week, the commission voted 3-2 against entering into an agreement with a group that hopes to form a public-private partnership that will lead to the construction of a toll road connecting the Wiregrass with I-10. The route may eventually stretch from Montgomery to the Gulf.

The immediate reaction was fear that people would use the toll road to bypass Washington County on their way to the beach. Most people already use U.S. 231 to go to the beach, so now they will have even less traffic through Washington County. Not to mention the possibility of missing out on major industries who look for areas with interstates.

Yes, Washington County has I-10, but a route that could eventually connect I-10 with I-85/I-65 in Montgomery would be a nice feather in their hat.
If the commission needed more information from the toll road group, why not leave the option open and vote to gather more information before deciding? Now their county is completely out of the picture.

It will be interesting to see what Jackson County does now. They also have I-10, and they have seen how growth occurs just off the interstate ramps, including industry.

The interstate helped attract a 907,000 square foot Family Dollar distribution center to the Marianna Distribution Park in 2005. That meant another 400-plus jobs and a projected investment of $50 million in the project. Not a bad industrial recruitment job by Jackson County.

The toll road could be very attractive to Jackson County. State Road 2 would run east and west across the toll road providing another transportation opportunity, plus there is also a rail yard and spur there.

Interstates and limited-access interstate connectors are a big part of the package industry looks for when building new facilities.

The ball is now in Jackson County’s court. Will they pass on it or cash in on the investment?

Speaking of cashing in, hats off to real estate developer Ronnie Gilley. I was one of the many who never thought BamaJam would get off the ground. Mainly because I just couldn’t see groups like ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd wanting to come and perform in a field in the middle of nowhere Coffee County.

They did and the fans flocked to see them. According to Gilley’s numbers, more than 200,000 fans packed the 650-acre field throughout the three-day event. Some people are questioning those numbers, but however many people attended, one thing is sure, there were thousands and thousands of them - a lot more than anyone could have imagined.

As with any first-time event and with crowds that large, there were a few bumps and some arrests made, but nothing that tarnished the event. In fact, if 200,000 attended the event, only a tiny fraction of one percent of those who attended were arrested.

One thing it does prove, if Gilley can get Country Crossing off the ground here in Houston County, people will flock to it for music entertainment. That begs the question— If that many people will come out for the music, does Country Crossing really need the controversial electronic bingo machines?

Ken Tuck is the managing editor of the Dothan Eagle and regional editor of Media General Alabama Newspapers He can be reached at or 712-7960.