Stop the Proposed Road Through Oak Creek Wetlands — Choose the NO BUILD Option. #stopthepave
Petition to:
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
Hardee & Desoto County officials and elected representatives

Petition by:
Julie Anne Barber, Oak Creek Preserve — Hardee County, Florida

 
Why this matters:
My name is Julie Anne Barber, and I am the owner and steward of Oak Creek Preserve, a working agricultural property and wetland property in Hardee County, Florida.

FDOT is currently studying a proposal to build a new roadway through the Oak Creek wetlands, between State Road 70 and State Road 66, with potential expansion all the way to SR 98. This proposal is known as FDOT Project 455782-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 4 potential options: A, B, C and NO BUILD.  I strongly support the NO BUILD option — and I am asking FDOT and our elected officials to choose it.

This road would directly impact my home, working cattle land, and a sensitive wetland system that supports water quality, wildlife habitat, agriculture, and downstream communities. Once this land is disturbed, it cannot be put back the way it was.

 
Reasons to Choose the NO BUILD Option
1. Fiscal responsibility & evacuation safety
FDOT is considering spending nearly $500 million on a new 10-mile road, promoted as a hurricane evacuation route. However, recent storms have already shown that existing evacuation routes are failing.

During recent storms, Highway 17 flooded just south of Zolfo Springs, shutting down evacuation access along a low-lying stretch of approximately 300 yards.

Before spending half a billion dollars on a brand-new road, FDOT should:

Fix known flooding failures on Highway 17
Use existing funding to strengthen Evacuation Route 17
Evaluate adding lanes or capacity improvements on Highway 17 and/or Highway 27
Building a new road while known evacuation failures remain unfixed is not fiscally responsible.

 
2. Protect Oak Creek & the Peace River watershed
Oak Creek is a critical wetland basin that flows into the Peace River via Charlie Creek. Disturbing these wetlands threatens:

Water quality
Flood control
Aquifer recharge
Downstream ecosystems serving multiple counties
Once damaged, wetland systems cannot be fully restored.

 
3. Prevent destruction of Florida Wildlife Corridor habitat
This area supports important wildlife, including:

Bald eagles
Crested caracara
Sandhill cranes
Wild turkey
Gopher tortoise (state-threatened)
Florida bonneted bat
Florida black bear
Florida panther
American alligator
Bobcat, deer, otter, fox
Ducks, wading birds, and migratory species
A major roadway through this corridor would permanently fragment habitat and disrupt wildlife movement patterns that cannot be replaced.

 
4. Protect Florida agriculture & food security
Florida is already losing farmland at an alarming rate:

Farm acreage has declined by more than 6%
Development is projected to eliminate 45,000 acres of farmland per year
(Source: FloridaPolitics.com)
This project would directly impact working cattle land and agriculture in a region that helps feed Florida.

No farms = no food.

 
5. Avoid decades of added taxpayer burden
Beyond construction costs, new roads create long-term public expenses for:

Road maintenance
Law enforcement
Emergency response
Public safety and infrastructure services
These costs fall on taxpayers for decades — without fixing the evacuation problems we already have.

 
Our Request
We respectfully urge FDOT to:

Select the NO BUILD option for Project 455782-1
Invest instead in repairing and strengthening existing evacuation and transportation infrastructure
Protect Florida’s wetlands, wildlife corridors, farmland, and rural communities
 
Public Comment Deadline
Thursday, February 12, 2026

FDOT Public Comment Link:
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Bf0bvwcx9kuEzZLOWY6pzWNrODbvISxNo_Et42GvXr9UMzZISFFGWkVBQzJRUUxFRFVHQ0syNUNYWi4u

Other ways to comment:

Email: david.long@dot.state.fl.us
Mail: FDOT, 801 N. Broadway Ave., MS 1-41, Bartow, FL 33830


 
Every signature matters. Even a short message or a single signature helps show FDOT that people care about protecting this land. Help us STOP THE PAVE and Keep Florida Wild. 

Please sign and share this petition to help protect Oak Creek, our water, wildlife, farms, and community.

With gratitude,
Julie Anne Barber
Oak Creek Preserve
www.oakcreekpreserve.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above is a map of the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The red circle shows the area the proposed road will be built.  Below is the wetland map for Southeast Hardee County. The area for the proposed road is through a known wetland. An area prone to massive flooding during hurricanes.