Cross Florida Barge Canal


The Cross Florida Barge Canal, now officially the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway is a protected green belt corridor, more than one mile wide in places. It is named for the leader of opposition to the Cross Florida Barge Canal, Marjorie Harris Carr, and was originally a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers canal project to connect the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean across Florida for barge traffic. Two sections were built but the project was ultimately cancelled, due to local opposition related to environmental concerns, including protecting the state's water supply and conservation of the Ocklawaha River Valley ecosystem, but also due to national opposition for the costs being perceived as "government waste" with "limited national value."
The Greenway is part of the system of Florida State Parks, including the Santos Trail System, and is managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

History

The idea of such a canal was first proposed by Philip II of Spain in 1567. It was repeatedly considered over the years but found to be economically unviable. Secretary of War John C. Calhoun once again proposed a canal in 1818 in order to solve the losses due to shipwrecks and piracy. The Florida Railroad, finished on March 1, 1861, served a similar purpose, connecting the Atlantic Ocean at Fernandina to the Gulf of Mexico at Cedar Key.
In the 1930s, regional politicians lobbied the federal government to fund canal construction as an economic recovery program, including the creation of the Canal Authority of the State of Florida in May 1933. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized $5 million in funding for the project in 1935, and the entire project was estimated at $143 million to complete. in 1936, Michigan Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg challenged the canal, stating that the project never received authorization from Congress. At the time, 13 million cubic yards of material had already been excavated, 5,000 acres of land cleared and four bridge piers constructed near Ocala. Funds for construction were also exhausted, so construction stopped.
Work was reauthorized by Congress in 1942 as a national defense project and $93 million was authorized for construction. Dams and locks were used to protect the underground water supply. Support for the project from Washington was sporadic, and funds were never allocated to the Army Corps o actually start construction.
Planning was once again given the go-ahead in 1963 with support from President John F. Kennedy, who allocated one million dollars to the project. The next year, President Lyndon Johnson set off the explosives that started construction. It was intended that the canal, along with the St. Johns-Indian River Barge Canal, would provide a quicker and safer route across Florida by 1971.
Opponents subsequently campaigned against the canal on environmental grounds, and a lawsuit was filed against the Army Corps by the Florida Defenders of the Environment and the Environmental Defense Fund. The lawsuit resulted in a temporary injunction against the project in January 1971 and days later was halted by President Richard Nixon's signing of an executive order. Approximately $74 million had been spent on the project up until the 1971 cessation of activities. It was officially deauthorized by Congress in 1990 and the lands were turned over to the state of Florida for use as public conservation and recreation area, becoming the Cross Florida Greenway State Recreation and Conservation Area in 1991. In 1998, the land was renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in honor of Marjorie Harris Carr, who had led opposition to the canal with the organization she co-founded, Florida Defenders of the Environment. Carr had died the prior year at age 82.

Canal route

The planned route of the canal followed the St. Johns River from the Atlantic coast to Palatka, the valley of the Ocklawaha River to the coastal divide, and the Withlacoochee River to the Gulf of Mexico. About 28% of the 107 mile project was built — the cross-country section from the St. Johns River to the Ocklawaha River, part of the route along the Ocklawaha, and a small section at the Gulf of Mexico end up to the dammed Lake Rousseau.

Economic impact

The canal was intended to connect the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Withlacoochee Bay near Yankeetown, Florida. The military and economic impact was expected to be tremendous in that it "... promote the national defense and to promptly facilitate and protect the transport of materials and supplies needful to the Military Establishment...." The canal was intended to save travel time and distance for shipping companies by avoiding the longer route through the Florida Straits and link Florida's inland waterways to both coasts.

Bridges and other infrastructure

All the bridges over the St. Johns River north of the canal are high enough for ships, or have movable sections. High bridges were built over the canal, as well as several over the Ocklawaha River where it was not widened to the canal. The following are the major roads, railroads, and locks and dams cross the path of the canal:
Between Lake Rousseau and the Ocklawaha River, discontinuous, unwatered excavations mark the canal's planned path, along with different vegetation patterns on the land acquired for the project. A lock and dam was also built south of the canal on the Ocklawaha River near CR 464C in Marion County.

Project timeline