City gets its wish on bridge
Second bay bridge planned; 3-mile bridge to stay as is
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Gulf Breeze City Council fought adamantly against six laning the Pensacola Bay Bridge for many years, and their stance affected the outcome of the recently released Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority (NWFTCA)'s final master plan.

"(Hwy.) 98 can't handle everything," said City Manager Edwin "Buz" Eddy. The city official expressed concerns that Gulf Breeze could be close to gridlock in the near future. "Forty thousand cars a day come through [Gulf Breeze Proper] everyday. Twenty-five percent more volume of traffic would actually do some harm."

After more than two years, the eight-county Highway 98 corridor authority's members unveiled their transportation master plan for coastal Northwest Florida.

Major improvements to the Gulf Breeze area include a second Bay bridge and a six laned US 98 east of the Garcon Point Bridge. Planners also included a two-county beltway north of Milton and Pensacola and a three-county alternative route through the southern portion of Eglin Air Force Base.

NWFTCA board member Robert Montgomery anticipates the plan to be very loose and spark intriguing debate over the next several years.

"All these things are preliminary at this point," Montgomery said. "They just lines on paper. A lot of things have to happen before they become reality."

All 35 projects in the plan are expected to take many years to complete. The proposed new Pensacola Bay Bridge, stretching more than six miles from somewhere near Langley Avenue in Pensacola to just north of Garcon Point via Avalon Boulevard, is expected to cost over $470 million. Widening the current Garcon Point bridge to accommodate the new traffic is expected to cost close to $200 million. The six laning of US 98 from Avalon boulevard east 12 miles to highway 87 is expected to cost close to $315 million. The threecounty alternate that cuts across three counties and Eglin should cost a little over $1 billion, or roughly one eighth of the entire plan.

"I think the bypass through Eglin is the biggest thing that's come along in many many years," Montgomery said.

The NWFTCA was formed in 2005 and given until July of this year to develop a master plan based around the rationality of US 98. Board members will hold their next meeting in Bay County on Apr. 5. The board is expected to adopt the master plan after considering any public comment. For more information, visit www.nwftca.com.