Roadwork ties up Hwy. 98
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

“Expect Delays” was the message being proclaimed by electronic traffic signs, but many travelers were still surprised to find upwards of an hour to travel from westbound from the Tiger Point area to Gulf Breeze Proper and eastbound from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze last Friday.

That’s because contractors closed one eastbound and westbound lane to complete the work on the median in front of Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze.

Steve Hunt, operations engineer for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties said a permit was issued for a traffic shift, meaning both lanes would remain open but be shifted slightly away from the work to enclose the median and extend a turn lane into the hospital.

“Mr. Hatcher indicated that Mr. Eddy was aware of the lane closure but they thought that since they could do it in such a short period of time it would be OK,” Hunt said. The work lasted from 8:30 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.

VMS, the company that manages contracts for DOT, indicated there would be a lane shift, maintaining traffic flow but they “totally disregarded” that and closed the two interior lanes, Hunt said.

Buz Eddy, Gulf Breeze City Manager said the road closure “Shouldn’t have happened. We were not prepared for it. It was ugly.”

“The contractor didn’t tell us what he was going to do,” Eddy said. “It wasn’t supposed to be done till Saturday. They couldn’t get the asphalt supply on Saturday so they did it Friday.”

However, Eddy said the work was unavoidable.

“There is no way you could have paved those lanes without limited lane closures,” Eddy said. “It was a mess and we apologize.”

City Council Member Beverly Zimmern said she was caught in the traffic for an hour and 45 minutes.

“It was beyond our control,” she said of the city. “We did the best we could under the circumstances.”

Motorists recently experienced delays on the same stretch of Highway 98 due to restriping.

“You know its interesting we had as bad a backup the other day when VMS, the contractor that works for DOT, decided to restripe on a Friday afternoon. That wasn’t the city,” Eddy said.

Eddy said the best news is that although it was a terrible delay, it was finished in one day and no more work is planned in association with the Andrews Institute that will affect traffic flow in Gulf Breeze.