Decades After a Florida Canal Project Was Abandoned, Advocates Are Trying to Reunite 3 Rivers

Decades after a Florida canal project was abandoned, advocates are trying to reunite 3 rivers

It was supposed to be Florida's version of the Panama Canal — a shortcut for boats to pass through the middle of the state from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf instead of navigating around the peninsula. But work on the Cross Florida Barge Canal was stopped in 1971 over environmental concerns.

Decades after a Florida canal project was abandoned, advocates are trying to reunite 3 rivers - WXXV News 25

PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — It was supposed to be Florida’s version of the Panama Canal — a shortcut for boats to pass through the middle of the state from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf instead of navigating around the peninsula. But work on the Cross Florida Barge Canal was stopped in 1971 over environmental concerns. Since then, a dam and reservoir built for the aborted canal in northeast Florida has drowned a chunk of the Ocala National Forest, put…