WIDENING OF STATE ROAD 123 (ROAD PROVIDING A SHORT CUT BETWEEN CRESTVIEW AND FORT WALTON BEACH) PROPOSAL REVEALED

To update you on the below announcement, I must throw out some observations:

The overpass being constructed to make access from Crestview to the South part of the county, which is adjacent to the Fort Walton Beach airport and the F-35 Training Squadron is on schedule for completion early next year. For the record, this project was a Senator Don Gaetz initiative. Therefore, I expect the next logical piece of the puzzle in making Crestview more accessible to the South part of the County and Eglin AFB (F-35 Squadron) would be to get this State Road 123 (By Pass) road funded.

Another factoid, this is Senator Gaetz District and he has been selected as the next President of the Senate for the State of Florida. In his acceptance speech, he made job creation and the military a priority.

State Road 123 proposal revealed
By LAUREN SAGE REINLIE
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4445 lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com  
NICEVILLE — State transportation officials and contractors met with residents last week to unveil estimated costs and environmental impacts of a proposed widening of State Road 123. The five-mile stretch of road connects State Road 85 around Niceville. The proposed project would widen SR 123 from two to four lanes by adding two lanes along the west side of the existing road through Eglin Air Force Base property. Construction costs are estimated at $16.2 million. Funding has not yet been allocated for construction. Tommie Speights, district spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said the project is needed to improve safety and relieve congestion at the north end of SR 123 at SR 85. If the project is completed the intersection will no longer require a traffic light, he said. “It bottlenecks there,” Speights said. “We’re trying to relieve that congestion and make it much safer.” Between 2002 and 2009, there were more than 100 vehicle crashes on SR 123, which is higher than expected, according to HDR Engineering, the company hired to manage the project. The south end intersection already is being rebuilt with a flyover just south of Northwest Florida Regional Airport. The proposal calls for new two-lane bridges to be built over Tom’s Creek, Turkey Creek and an unnamed tributary to Turkey Creek. The creeks are home to the Okaloosa darter, an endangered freshwater fish. A Biological Assessment has been submitted for review to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to determine any effects on the darter. Speights said the bridges will allow the darter to pass under the road and minimize impacts on their habitat.
At the meeting residents were encouraged to submit comments on the proposed project. “The idea is for the public to get input,” Speights said. “We do hear what they are saying. It doesn’t fall of deaf ears. We take the comments and try to incorporate them into the project.” Wayland Davis of Choctaw Beach spoke at the meeting. He asked that the road be renamed the Purple Heart Memorial Highway because it connects Eglin and the Army Special Forces cantonment south of Crestview. Speights said the naming of state roads is generally overseen by the Legislature and it has already approved the name Robert J. Clary Highway. The project hasn’t garnered a lot of attention, mostly because it doesn’t affect any private property, Speights said. “The general public can appreciate the relief they are going to get by building this project,” he said. Comments on the project and the Environmental Assessmentcanbesubmitted untilOct.3.Submitcomments to Alan Vann, Department of Transportation, by mail at 1074 U.S. Highway 90, Chipley, FL 32428, or by email at alan.vann@dot.state.fl.us  .