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Controversial Whisper Bay/98 intersection in works

Santa Rosa County's Whisper Bay/U.S. Highway 98 intersection project is not officially under way, but work related to the project has begun at the old Delchamps shopping center.

"What you see is the work being done by Moulton (Properties)," Michael Schmidt, Assistant County Engineer, said of the heavy machinery seen in the area.

On May 22, the Santa Rosa County Commission approved an engineering project that will create a road from Breeze 8 Cinemas and Crane Cove to intersect with U.S. 98 at the entrance to Whisper Bay subdivision. A traffic light also will be added.

The state awarded Santa Rosa County $750,000 to help build the connector road and place the traffic light. The necessary rights-of-way have been donated at no cost.

In order for the road to be built, the abandoned shopping center first had to be cleaned up.

"It's an easement where we have to make sure that there is a certain number of feet between the building and the path of the roadway," said Mary Moulton, Vice President of Moulton Properties. "We're just working to clear an area for the road to go behind the building."

Work on the road project already could be under way, but county engineering staff asserted it would be best to wait until all aspects of the project are cleared before breaking ground.

"The road realignment is ready to go," Schmidt said. "We're just waiting on the Moultons to do some work around that building. We're waiting on a DOT (Department of Transportation) permit for the intersection improvement, but the road we could begin.

"We just don't want to jump the gun."

Schmidt said the engineering staff plans to begin working on the project "sometime this summer." He explained that it was best to complete the project as a whole in the case that adjustments need to be made during the process.

"If we were to complete the new road and come to find that the intersection needs to move just a couple of feet, that would result in a lot of time, energy and money wasted," Schmidt explained. We hope to be done with the entire project by the end of the year."

As of now, the county has not contracted the work.

"The bidding process for the contract will start once permitting is acquired," Schmidt said.

The project, which has been on the drawing board for about three years, has not been void of controversy.

Residents of the Tiger Trace Homeowners Association just west of the planned intersection have loudly voiced their opposition to the plan.

"I would like to know how much that signal costs and how much Santa Rosa County and the Florida Department of Transportation could save by doing the same at Crane Cove instead of the $750,000 they are going to spend to build a road around an empty shopping center," Tiger Trace resident Deb Moore wrote in a Gulf Breeze News Op-Ed piece on Dec. 18, 2008.

"It's our money."