Florida's Turnpike System

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
A significant investment will be made to widen the
current Turnpike system. The combined current-year
capital budget and five-year capital program provide $822
million for widening of 196 lane-miles of the Turnpike
System, 138 of those lane-miles in south Florida, as well
as funding for design and right of way for future widening
projects. The revenue projected on the Turnpike System
will fund the debt service on the bond-funded portion of
these improvements, and in turn, the additional capacity
generated by these projects will provide for future growth
in traffic and revenue.
Also in the program are two new SunPass-only interchanges
in Central Florida: Pace Road on the Polk
Parkway and Lutz-Lake Fern Road on the Suncoast
Parkway. During the same period, the Lake Worth Road
interchange modification project in Palm Beach County
is scheduled for construction. Coupled with design and
right of way on future interchanges, these improvements
totaling $150 million will provide customers with
improved access to Turnpike facilities.
With the addition of the new, more affordable SunPass
Mini, the Turnpike is planning to migrate to AET on the
HEFT in Miami-Dade County. AET is cashless highway
speed electronic tolling, unlike ORT which includes
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Construction of widening projects continues in
South Florida
traditional cash payment options. Over $148 million has
been included in the five year program for conversion of
the HEFT facility to AET.
Rendering of planned AET on the HEFT
Existing cash reserves, toll revenues, concessions, and
bond proceeds will be used to fund the substantial
capital improvement program the Turnpike will be
undertaking. The Turnpike has bond sales planned for
FY 2009 totaling approximately $437 million which
will fund long-term capital improvements to the System.
In FY 2007 the Turnpike’s legislative bond cap was
increased to $10.0 billion under Section 338.2275 of
the Florida Statutes. This legislation allows the Turnpike
to continue to expand beyond the current five-year
capital plan. At this time an additional $2.0 billion of
bonds are planned to be sold through fiscal year 2014 to
fund many of the planned expansion and improvement
projects. These bonds will be issued in accordance with
the Turnpike Bond Authorizing Resolution and Turnpike
Debt Management Guidelines.
The long-range financial planning model for the Turnpike
includes numerous system improvements, customer
safety and service enhancements, and the deployment
of cutting-edge technology. The Office of the CFO has
established a series of financial safeguards to provide
assurance that future system improvements are adequately
funded while maintaining appropriate cash reserves and
conservative debt ratios.