Wymart Bridge Project will Improve Traffic and Stormwater Drainage

A huge, $6.5 Million Infrastructure project is underway currently in the Bellview neighborhood in District 1.  This project will improve the Longleaf roadway from Pine Forest Road to Wymart road and will include center medians/turn lanes, sidewalks on the north and south side, improved drainage systems, and a brand new bridge at Wymart which will improve traffic flow and stormwater drainage in the area.

Check out the video, below.

Will Adding the 4th Lane to Pine Forest Road between 9-Mile and I-10 Move Ahead--Starting Today?

Later this morning at today's Florida Alabama Transportation Planning Organization meeting one item in particular is standing out.

Beyond discussion of the priorities is an action item to move the prioritization up for the project to add a 4th lane on Pine Forest Road from I-10 the 9-Mile Road.

This has been a traffic pinch point forever, and many have questioned whether or not adding a 4th lane (currently there are two lanes southbound and only one lane northbound on this stretch of Pine Forest Road) would ever happen.

Many, like me, wonder what the rationale ever was for designing this stretch of road this way with only three lanes.

This morning we have the ability to move this project one step closer to reality by bumping the priority of this stretch up as is on the agenda.

We've talked about it, complained about it, and heard complaints about it.

Later this morning, hopefully, we will do something about it!

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.