The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to create an expressway authority with the power to add toll lanes to Interstate 75 in the southwestern part of the state.

It has been forwarded to Gov. Jeb Bush for approval.

The bill gained final approval in the Senate on a unanimous vote. It earlier won widespread support in the House.

Sponsored by Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples, HB401 would allow local county commissioners to set up a Southwest Florida Expressway Authority that would have the ability to issue bonds to pay for adding up to four toll lanes to plans already under way to add two lanes with public money for I-75 in Collier and Lee counties.

In 2007, the Florida Department of Transportation plans to begin widening 26 miles of the interstate from Golden Gate Parkway in Collier County to Daniels Parkway in Lee County. Widening the stretch from four to six lanes is expected to take more than two years and cost $200 million.

By then, the interstate will be experiencing the traffic load of a normal eight-lane highway, Davis told Fort Myers’ The News-Press.

The Florida Department of Transportation isn’t planning to boost I-75 to 10 lanes until 2030. But, Davis said the expressway authority could shave years off that date through tolled express lanes.

Both the state and federal governments would still have to approve the construction of toll lanes on the interstate, and the project could cost more than $770 million.

The proposal gives county commissioners in the two counties, which lie along the state’s Gulf Coast north of the Everglades, final say on any changes to the expressway authority’s power. It also allows Charlotte County to join the authority in the future.