NO--Beulah Interchange Project was NOT Skipped over for the #2 Project

The Governor's newly announced $7 Billion Legislative Initiative, "Moving Florida Forward," put forth to streamline and fund construction of badly needed, much anticipated infrastructure projects statewide----- includes a massive $162 Million in NEW funding for the regional Transportation Planning Organization's (TPO) #2 Priority and #1 unfunded priority.  NO--the Beulah Interchange Project was NOT skipped over for the area TPO's #2 project 

At first glance the recently announced slate of projects recommended for fast-track funding by the Governor in the upcoming legislative session may have appeared to skip the Beulah Interchange (#1 area project) in favor of the #2 ranked project.  However, upon speaking with transportation planning organization staff--some clarification was provided which puts this huge initiative's impact locally into better context.  This new funding will actually enhance things that are already funded in D1/D5 and portions of D3 in NW Escambia County.  It will be a HUGE win if the legislature moves forward with this initiative from Governor Ron DeSantis.  From the email:

"Beulah interchange is fully funded within the FDOT 10 year Transportation Improvement Program and appears to be on schedule for delivery (meaning right of way and construction commencing, if all goes right, within the next 6 years).  The right-of-way will take a couple years for completion, thus there is very little room to advance this project beyond the current schedule.  SIS priority #2 (I-10 widening and the interchange) is a logical choice because with Beulah being fully funded in the FDOT 10-year Transportation Improvement Program, this project was not.  In fact, our documents projected constructed outwards of 2041 timeframe.  So this Florida Forward proposal does, in fact, advance this project significantly. .. “We are very excited to learn of the “Moving Florida Forward” proposal by Governor DeSantis.  If this proposal is adopted by the legislature, it will bring $162 million new dollars to Northwest Florida that would not have been available, to advance the TPO’s #1 unfunded project nearly 2 decades!  Thanks to Governor DeSantis and Secretary Perdue for introducing this proposal.”

 

Yes, the wins are stacking up for the Escambia BCC, Escambia County, and NW Escambia County in particular.  #Winning.

I-10 Pine Forest Road Interchange Re-Work Could Solve Wilde Lake Blvd Issues

An attractive component of FDOT's plan to reconfigure the I-10/Pine Forest Road interchange in Escambia County will be that it also fixes the very dysfunctional and dangerous intersection at Wilde Lake Blvd and Pine Forest Road in District 1

Yesterday evening there was a well-attended, very informative FDOT meeting held in District 1.  It was hosted by Pine Forest United Methodist Church on Wilde Lake Blvd.---and there were about 100 citizens in attendance.

The primary reason for the meeting was to present the public with some preliminary plans for adding two more traffic lanes to I-10 from the Alabama state line to Hwy 29 in Escambia County.  Plans for the re-configuration of the interchanges at Pine Forest Road and I-10 as well as the interchange at exit 5 and I-10 were also presented to the folks in attendance.

Staff from FDOT were available to answer specific questions, static displays were presented, a mock-up of a diverging diamond interchange was set up, and a series of videos were shown explaining what a Diverging Diamond Interchange is and how it functions  (these are the types of interchanges contemplated for the Pine Forest and Exit 5 reconfigurations as a part of the project).  You can see the video explaining how these interchanges function from the Federal Highway Administration here .

Those who wish to view the materials presented but who were unable to attend can access the handouts here and find more information about the safety features of these innovative designs here.

Currently, this project is not scheduled for construction and no funding has been identified for construction.  This project is currently in the Project Development and Environment study phase--which is a necessary step that must be concluded before a project can move forward.

I am excited about this project, even though it is one that will not be completed for several years.

An attractive component of FDOT's plan to reconfigure the I-10/Pine Forest Road interchange in Escambia County will be that it also fixes the very dysfunctional and dangerous intersection at Wilde Lake Blvd and Pine Forest Road in District 1

And one of the things that is especially attractive about this project (as displayed in the picture above) is that once the new interchange is designed at Pine Forest and I-10----the intersection of Wilde Lake and Pine Forest road will also be re-configured to much more effectively flush traffic--and this will also greatly improve safety at this intersection.

I look forward to watching this project progress, and the next public meeting on this project will happen early in 2021.