NEW OVERPASS ON HWY 85 FOR ARMY SPECIAL FORCES & DUKE FIELD ON FAST TRACK

As you will see, the Army's 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Headquarters is getting alot of attention and care. These improvements are just a couple of things being done to help make this the premier Army Base of the United States. As you will see, the dynamics of Eglin Air Forces Base will change and all facets of the military will be met. They are, Operations, Testing, and Training. That will mean, Eglin AFB will be on the minds of many military planners in the future.


Overpass fast-track gaining ground
By MICHAEL STEWART Florida Freedom Newspapers

CRESTVIEW — An attempt to fast-track an overpass across State Road 85 to link Duke Field and the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) headquarters is gaining momentum. Rhonda Grice, public involvement coordinator for the Okaloosa-Walton Transportation Planning Organization, said principal players in the project discussed the timeline in a recent telephone conference. They “seemed pretty emphatic they would like people to be able to use it (the overpass) by the summer of 2011,” she said. However, Okaloosa County Public Works Director Danielle Slaterpryce cautioned completion of the project, estimated to cost between $16.5 million and $22.5 million, could be four to five years away. “By the end of the year, we will have a better idea,” Slaterpryce said Thursday at a public meeting in Crestview sponsored by the TPO. The project would include an elevated road at the entrance to Duke Field that would cross over State Road 85. The restricted road, dubbed Special Forces Way, would allow military personnel and equipment to cross busy SR 85 without impeding traffic. “This is going to be a benefit to the community and to the military,” said Lt. Col. Gary Bloomberg, the Special Forces’ integration team chief. “It is a safety issue. With the overpass, residents will be able to safely transverse Highway 85 to get to work every day.” Preliminary plans call for on and off ramps on SR 85 similar to those on an interstate highway. The relocation of the 7th Special Forces Group — the legendary Green Berets — from Fort Bragg, N.C., to Eglin Air Force Base property has prompted the urgency to complete the project. Construction is under way west of SR 85 on a 600,000-square-foot facility the unit will call home. About 5,000 to 6,000 new residents will move to the area when the 7th Special Forces Group’s move is completed in 2011.