West Bay Parkway - [Update: Planning Phase Underway]

A four lane bridge for 331 will help only in emergency evacuations. If it is a toll bridge it may negatively impact the local economy. We need the bridge but we do not need the economic impact of it being a toll bridge. I do not know how the new bridge would be paid for but I have a suggestion. BP will wind up weaseling out of paying most of that 20 billion dollar fund. Before they give the 15 billion or so back in dividends to stockholders and bonues to executives why not hire that attorney for Casey Anthony to prove how the oil spill damaged the 331 bridge?

It's my understanding FL statutes prohibit "local discounts" for tolls.

I'm not sure though.

If you aren't writing the rules to explicitly target locals/tourists, then effective local discounts are just fine. Many peninsula toll roads have a Sunpass commuter discount- after X number of trips on the road in a month, you get a 10-20% rebate and the Sunpass discount for the Mid Bay Bridge is effectively a legacy from when you got a $1 discount per trip for buying paper monthly coupon books for bridge crossings.

I wish we still had a ferry.

There are definitely some "bridges to nowhere" that haven't paid for themselves. Seems like some crookedness. Does anyone doubt that a 331 toll road would pay for itself though?

Item 1: Don't think existing free roads (331) can be converted to tollroads.



Item 2: RE: Mid-Bay Bridge per Carr, Riggs & Ingram audit

financial statements and cease reporting as a direct financing lease

Item 1: Don't think existing free roads (331) can be converted to tollroads.

Buzz, that is interesting. Do you think if they completely destroy the existing causeway across the bay and replace it with new, that they could claim that that particular section of 331 is a not an "existing road," thereby escaping that rule?

Dunno maybe since it is a new bridge, they could pull it off.

To me a toll bridge is a bad idea, it won't hurt me and it won't hurt the vast majority of my clients but the charge will impact people who can least afford to pay.

It will certainly affect businesses on the North side of the 331 bridge. It is just not a good idea for a toll bridge. How many toll booths would there need to be to prevent cars from backing up? How wide would that area be and how far from the bridge. Low income workers would be negatively impacked. Delivery costs would increase. What would happen to the causeway? There are a lot of people who enjoy fishing along the causeway. We need to get this right. I know we need the bridge and I know we have relatively little political clout to get it paid for compared to central and south Florida. This will be an issue to pay close attention to and get involved in the discussions.

I think toll bridges and booths just add additional costs and time to these projects.

The new toll collection method the state's pushing for is zero toll booths- everything will be either Sunpass or pay-by-plate (ie. toll bill gets sent to mailing address attached to the license plate) Idea is that it both speeds up traffic and reduces personnel costs. The new Sunpass hardware on the road side of things even allows 50-60mph speeds (see Suncoast Parkway north of Tampa) when going through the transponder trigger point.

Another thing to consider. FDOT plans to put a traffic signal at the intersection of Short Avenue to align with Old Jolly Bay Road during the road widening phase. If there are toll booths this will become very interesting. If toll booths become obsolete (I am not sure that technology has been worked out) there will still be no high speed tolling (unless maybe you time a green light). Chelco has began surveying to relocate the power lines. This is suppose to start next year.

THE STATE Department of Transportation’s preferred alignment for the West Bay Parkway Segment 1 Project in Walton County (Alternative 10) has been officially accepted by the agency.

The FDOT roadway connecting CR 388 in Bay County to US 98 in Walton County east of Peach Creek and west of Watersound Parkway. A four-lane roadway, approximately 10 – 12 miles in length that will include a new high-level bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway. The project will give Walton County a more direct route to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, and serve as a critical evacuation route in the event of a hurricane.

This project has been in the works for quite some time, multiple studies have been completed and a route has been recommended. “The planning study for the bridge has been completed. Funding for design, right of way and construction has not yet been identified,” said the FDOT.

The road will cross mostly St. Joe Company land.

Anyone know timeline for the parkway?

Preliminary engineering and right-of-way acquisition have been scheduled for a 2021-2025 time frame. "Funding for construction is beyond 2040." This is according a May 2020 DOT document for the project. Trying to get additional information.

That thing is going to extend all the way to 30A with the inevitable 'forest road'.

That thing is going to extend all the way to 30A with the inevitable 'forest road'.

Sadly, I think you are right, but I hope you are wrong.

The Walton County 1,150 foot section of the West Bay Parkway has been approved by the Walton County Technical Review Committee.

It will be about one mile west of Watersounf Parkway and will connect to a 3,000 foot bridge across the intracoastal to Margaritaville and the airport in Bay County.

The Walton County 1,150 foot section of the West Bay Parkway has been approved by the Walton County Technical Review Committee.

It will be about one mile west of Watersounf Parkway and will connect to a 3,000 foot bridge across the intracoastal to Margaritaville and the airport in Bay County.

I'm not quite understanding the "1,150 foot section of West Bay Parkway" part of this statement. I would assume the part going through Walton County would be a whole lot longer than that.

I'm not quite understanding the "1,150 foot section of West Bay Parkway" part of this statement. I would assume the part going through Walton County would be a whole lot longer than that.

I'm not sure it might be a section of it. From what I saw it will be just 2 lane at first and open up some more of Watersound for development.

I'm not quite understanding the "1,150 foot section of West Bay Parkway" part of this statement. I would assume the part going through Walton County would be a whole lot longer than that.

That's literally what went through the TRB was a 1,150 foot culdesac.