CRESTVIEW — People who live in the P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road corridor's eastern section — and who've for years heard rumors about traffic improvement plans — finally saw something tangible during a Tuesday evening presentation.
Construction is scheduled for two of four phases to widen the stretch of road between State Road 85 and the Interstate 10 overpass. In autumn 2016, work will begin on widening the current two-lane roads to four lanes, plus adding a 22-foot median, a 4-foot bike lane and a 6-foot sidewalk, between S.R. 85 and Ashley Drive/Villacrest Drive.
“Things are coming together nicely after so long,” Crestview City Councilman Bill Cox, a Countryview Estates resident, said, adding that construction — which was supposed to start this fall — was delayed to allow the first two segments to be built concurrently.
Cox said he also is pleased to see a traffic light planned for the P.J. Adams-east Villacrest Drive intersection.
Anna Summers, a Countryview resident and director of CrossPoint Church’s elementary school program, agreed. “At night, just trying to turn left is impossible,” she said. “We have ministries that go on almost every weeknight, including Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. We’re pretty busy.”
Residents Willie and Ana David are glad to see sound barriers proposed for those sections where homes, such as theirs, back up against P.J. Adams. “This is definitely going to be a plus for the residents,” Willie David said. “Some folks are talking about moving out because of the traffic, but they might stick around now.”
Crestview native Graham Fountain, whose wife’s grandfather was P.J. Adams, recalled days when land bordering the road was mostly trees. He sees the four-laning as part of a long-awaited bypass. “The P.J. Adams project will aid greatly in moving traffic around Crestview,” Fountain said. “During storm evacuations, traffic movements from the south county northward will be enhanced greatly.”
“Residents’ reactions have been very positive,” project manager Brad Collins, with HDR Engineering, said during the public meeting. “Everybody wants a four-lane. They face congestion every day. That’s growing pains.”
Not all residents are as eager to see the project completed.
“It’s a residential road,” Erica Barrett said. “It shouldn’t be a bypass going through a residential area.
“My other concern is my neighbors’ property value is going to be lost. Their backyards are going to be lost and there’s going to be a big noise barrier in the yard.”
Barrett agreed that some improvements are necessary.
“We need bike paths and we need sidewalks and we need turning lanes, but we don’t need something this big,” she said. “A lot of it is for tourists heading south.
"They need to find a different way to run a bypass around our residential area.”
PROJECT TIMELINE
The P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road corridor will widen — to four lanes between State Road 85 and the interstate 10 overpass — in these phases:
●I: S.R. 85 to Villacrest Drive/Key Lime Place; starts fall 2016
●II: Villacrest/Key Lime to Villacrest West/Ashley Drive; starts fall 2016
●III: Villacrest/Ashley to Wildhorse Drive/Northview Drive; start date TBD
●IV: Wildhorse/Northview to I-10; start date TBD
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
HDR Engineering and Okaloosa County Public Works staffers welcome public comments on P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road expansion plans.
Send them on or before Oct. 27 to: Brad Collins, HDR Engineering, 25 W. Cedar St., #200, Pensacola FL 32502; Michael.collins@hdrinc.com; or Scott Bitterman, Okaloosa County Engineer, 1759 S. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview FL 32536, sbitterman@co.okaloosa.fl.us.
PROJECT TIMELINE / SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview residents review P.J. Adams Parkway plans; construction starts fall '16