FDOT Receives Unsolicited Bid For Toll Road

LUTZ — Jerry Stanley has spent 45 years building highways and bridges in Florida. Today, he’s the $2 billion man.

That’s the estimated cost to build an elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor linking Wesley Chapel to New Port Richey. Stanley’s International Infrastructure Partners submitted an unsolicited bid on June 11 to the Florida Department of Transportation to lease the right-of-way so his company could build and operate the 33-mile toll road.

“What we submitted was a generic version of the proposal to ask FDOT to lease the right-of-way,” Stanley said. “They have decided it was worth proceeding so they asked for competitive bids. I’m semi-retired now. I may have to come out of retirement if this all works out.”

The FDOT’s District 7 office last week advertised a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) to see if any other firms can meet or beat Stanley’s proposal. The proposals are due Oct. 23.

By Monday morning, the DOT had already received inquiries from 10 other firms.

“Wow,” said County Administrator Michele Baker said. “Maybe that’s why he submitted it so early — he knew there would be a lot of competition. This northern loop concept — it’s huge. It’s a game changer for the Tampa Bay area. We know this is a valuable corridor.”

Source: Laura Kinsler, TBO