1. CDOT is not selling US 36. They are leasing out portions of it in return for a private concern taking care of the maintenance so the state not only gets cash out of the deal but is relieved of an annual expense. The private concern thinks they can make it work financially by charging a toll for people who want express routes.
2. We would be paying for US 36 maintenance and upgrades anyway. The difference here is that the cost is being borne by those who want to travel faster.
3. You can still go east to west across Florida without paying the tolls, it just takes 3-4 times as long. The toll road is successful because people want to get from I-95 to Naples or Tampa or West Palm Beach faster and are willing to pay for it. It is freedom because you have choices: you can pay in cash or you can pay in time. Florida has no income taxes and a lower sales tax than we do here -- and some of you want to give the Dems permission to raise taxes even more to pay for highway maintenance that should already be budgeted.
4. From what I've been able to dig up in the past day, the toll road and private-public partnership proposals have been open and transparent -- including bidding -- for two years. It's not CDOT's fault that most of us have ignored it because of the fights over Amendment 64, gun control, sex education in elementary schools, etc.

Why am I not surprised this thread was started by nynco? It's so full of misinformation you'd think it came from the White House Communications Director.