Studer Community Institute

Tale of two bridges: Mid-Bay thrives while Garcon Point withers

April 17, 2015
/ Louis Cooper
/ government

At a casual glance, the Garcon Point Bridge in Santa Rosa County and the Mid-Bay Bridge in Okaloosa County look almost identical. Both spans connect two population centers separated by a bay, allowing motorists to avoid dozens of miles of driving. Both bridges were built with money raised by bond sales with the intention of users paying the bill — including a profit for the bondholders — through tolls. The Mid-Bay Bridge opened in 1993, with the Garcon Point Bridge following in 1999. The two projects seemed so similar, the planners for the Garcon project used traffic counts from the Mid-Bay as justification for the new project. But the results of the two projects are startlingly different. The Mid-Bay Bridge has met all of its traffic and revenue projects, so much so that the Bridge Authority went on to build an 11-mile toll bypass that goes from the bridge, which is just east of Niceville, to State Road 20, north of Niceville. The Mid-Bay toll has risen modestly, from $2 in 1993 to $3 today. The Garcon Point Bridge is in financial ruin. It never met its traffic or financial projections and has been in default for years. To generate more money, it has seen a series of toll increases from the original one-way, cash price of $2 to $3.75 now. Last November, the Bank of New York Mellon, which manages the bond debt on the bridge, sent a letter to the non-functional Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority — which is supposed to run the bridge — demanding the one-way, cash toll be increased to $5. So, why the disparity in the success of the two ventures? Rep. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, has been working to find a way to avoid the toll increase at Garcon Point. He said the disparity is rooted in the flawed logic that assumed similar performance between the two bridges. The south end of the Mid-Bay Bridge connects to Destin, a peninsula crowded with high-end shopping centers, luxury vacation resorts, pristine golf courses and easy access to miles and miles of sugar white beaches. “There’s no question why the Mid-Bay Bridge has been successful. They’re dumping into one of the Southeast's most prominent playgrounds,” he said. “All you have to do is turn right or left. With Garcon, you’re not really in a tourist area. It’s really residential.” The difference in annual traffic and revenue totals is stark. For fiscal 2014, there was a total 1,513,809 one-way trips across the Garcon Point Bridge for total revenue of about $5.8 million. During fiscal 2013 — the most recent year posted on the Mid-Bay Bridge's website — that facility saw more than 6.5 million one-way trips for a total income of about $15.8 million. In his efforts to avoid the Garcon Point toll increase, Broxson hosted a community meeting in which local residents voiced near universal disdain for the toll increase, but when he later met with attorneys for the Bank of New York Mellon, they were not moved. Getting that toll increased has been complicated by the fact that the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority is empty. No one wants to serve on a board that manages a bankrupt facility that could, theoretically, draw them into personal liability. So, Broxon said it’s up to the Florida Department of Transportation — which staffs the bridge on a day-to-day-basis — to increase the toll. “They have not notified DOT, so that’s good news,” Broxson said. “I think DOT will call me immediately (if the toll increase is demanded). When they do, I will have a press release.” Broxson’s latest effort to stop the toll increase involves Gov. Rick Scott. “I went to him to give him a report about what’s been going on. He said he would fight the toll increase,” Broxson said. “He didn't fill in what kind of fight that would be, but if he says he can do it, I believe it.” While Scott’s office confirmed the governor’s conversation with Broxson, they would make no further comment. Kevin Heine, a spokesman for Bank of New York Mellon, did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority may be successful at avoiding or reducing its next toll increase. The 2011 financing that allowed the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority to build the connector anticipates a toll increase in 2016 – raising the bridge toll from $3 to $4 and the road toll from $1.50 to $2. However, the authority voted on Thursday to pursue a refinancing that could keep the toll down. “The Mid-Bay Bridge Authority’s intent is to reduce costs and keep tolls as low as responsibly possible in order to efficiently sustain its infrastructure, while promoting economic activity in the region and facilitating evacuation in the event of an emergency or natural disaster,” said Van Fuller, the executive director of the authority. “Once the refinancing is complete, and if toll rates must change to collect the required revenue, the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority will schedule public meetings to get feedback on potential toll rate schedules.”

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Tale of two bridges: Mid-Bay thrives while Garcon Point withers

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