Florida governor orders border checkpoints

March 30, 2020

Terry Scruton

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued an executive order calling for checkpoints at border crossings into the state along both the Alabama and Georgia state lines for travelers coming from areas with “substantial community spread,” including Louisiana, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

According to the order, people traveling from those areas will be required to isolate for a period of 14 days or the duration of their visit to Florida, whichever is shorter.

Truckers should note, however, that the order does not apply to anyone involved in emergency response or commercial activity – including truck drivers hauling supplies. Commercial motor vehicles should proceed in the left lane and to bypass the checkpoint.

The executive order requires all others traveling from those areas to fill out a traveler form with key information, including contact information and trip details.

The Florida Highway Patrol set up checkpoints over the weekend at both Interstate 95 at the Georgia state line and Interstate 10 at the Alabama state line. In addition, the I-95 southbound ramp to U.S. 17 has been closed.

The rollout of the checkpoints did not go as planned, however, as WJXT reports massive traffic backups on I-95 Sunday afternoon forced the closure of that checkpoint for about 4 hours. It was reopened at around 5:15 p.m. with a new traffic cone pattern in place.

The Florida DOT says the ramp to U.S. 17 from I-95 will be closed indefinitely during the enforcement of the order as numerous vehicles sought to use that to avoid the checkpoint over the weekend.

Here is an announcement from the Florida DOT on Facebook. Here is a news release from Florida DOT.

According to social media reports, the checkpoints have caused traffic to back up.

Check here for the latest updates from federal and state governments on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak complied by OOIDA and Land Line Media.