SPEEDWAY BETWEEN CRESTVIEW AND FORT WALTON ON SCHEDULE

If you don’t think this project doesn’t change the dynamics between Crestview and Fort Walton you have your head in the sand. As Senator Gaetz, local Senate Representative, noted. The only logistical place for most of the new residents coming to our area for the massive growth coming to our area is the North side of Crestview, and this Flyover is just a start to make the commute to work, shopping, and of course to the beautiful beaches of the emerald coast an easy one. If you didn’t know, this Flyover is at the entrance of the new F-35 Training Squadron on Eglin AFB, where over 2000 permanent military/civilian personnel are being assigned in the next couple of years, and entrance of the Northwest Florida Regional, where Vision Airlines will place their new HUB.

FLYOVER PROJECT ON SCHEDULE
‘We need a good summer’
Work will change access to airport
By KARI C. BARLOW
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4438 kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com  
Crews will start building a portion of the $32.4 million flyover next week that will elevate traffic above the intersection of State Roads 85 and 123. The long dirt ramp on the east side of SR 85 also will begin taking shape as the flyover’s southern approach. “We’ll start putting the lime rock base in next week, and that has to go in in two (layers) … to get proper density and compaction,” said Project Administrator Mike Lenga with Greenhorne & O’Mara, the firm managing the project. Paving on the ramp will begin in the next few weeks, he added. Construction on the flyover, which is funded with federal stimulus money, began in August 2009. “It’s going well and it’s on schedule,” said Tommie Speights, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. “We’re still shooting for a 2012 completion. It all depends on the weather.” The project will widen SR 85 to six lanes between General Bond Boulevard and Northwest Florida Regional Airport. The flyover on northbound SR 85 will connect motorists to SR 123. Access to the airport also will be improved by elevating the north and southbound lanes of SR 85 to pass above the northernmost entrance to the airport. A new frontage road will link the airport to SR 123. “I think it is going to be an awesome asset to this area,” Lenga said. “Every time you have cars crossing each other’s paths, you have a potential for an accident. By creating this flyover, you eliminate that intersection. You’re reducing areas of conflict.” The flyover was designed by H.W. Lochner and is being built by Anderson-Columbia. In the next week, work will start on the two small airport exit overpass bridges, Lenga said. “They ’re mobilizing equipment now,” he said. “We just moved the northbound traffic over (to the frontage road) so we could do this.” Crews will begin to drive test pilings into ground to determine how deep support beams must go to support the bridge. Workers also will build a concrete gravity wall on the ramp that will take traffic off southbound SR 85 and connect it either to SR 123 or the airport, Lenga said. The weather has been cooperative so far. When it has rained, the water hasn’t caused long-term problems. “It’s pretty sandy out there, so the water disappears pretty quickly,” Lenga said. “All in all, it’s been great.” His biggest concern now is keeping his workers safe. He acknowledges that construction is frustrating for motorists, but urges them to heed the speed limits. “These guys out there working, standing next to the road, they’re not protected,” he said “They have families. If you slow down through that 2-mile, 3-mile section … you’re not taking more than 10, 15 seconds out of your day. Isn’t that worth saving a life?” Lenga said the flyover is on schedule to wrap up sometime next spring or early summer. “We’re hoping to finish early on the job,” he said. “We need a good summer. Once the bridge work really starts kicking off, which is going to happen next week, we’ll really start picking up.” He said one of the biggest benefits of the flyover is increased capacity. “We’re adding lanes, so we’re increasing capacity to get through a congested area,” Lenga said. “I think when (motorists) see the final project, they’re going to really appreciate what happened.”