CRESTVIEW — Residents hoping for a Crestview bypass and a second Interstate 10 intersection might get their wishes, county officials said.
Though either road project, if approved at all, wouldn’t happen for many more years, state highway officials have taken notice of the city’s traffic dilemma and have asked the county for suggestions to take traffic off State Road 85.
In conjunction with an I-10 interchange at Antioch Road, the Florida Department of Transportation wants to know what the county’s plans are for the bypass system, Okaloosa County Public Works Director Jason Autrey said.
WEST BYPASS STUDY
The county plans to “look at alternative alignment on the west to complete the Crestview west bypass,” Autrey said during a recent briefing for the Crestview City Council.
The bypass comprises a loop from S.R. 85, south of Interstate 10, to U.S. Highway 90, and back to S.R. 85 north of downtown. The county agreed to fund a $750,000 match with $750,000 of state money to study the northwestern portion of the loop.
“For simplicity’s sake, we are looking at what Old Bethel Road does,” Autrey said. “Please do not take that to mean we are only looking at four-laning Old Bethel Road.”
Autrey said while following Old Bethel “will be an option,” issues such as right-of-way acquisition and residential development could move a bypass to another route.
County Engineer Scott Bitterman said the county is “confident funding is not going to fall through” for the study.
“That will complete the loop,” Autrey said. “That will help the DOT move forward with their installation of an interchange at I-10 and P.J. Adams Parkway.”
P.J. ADAMS-ANTIOCH
Meanwhile, the P.J. Adams/Antioch Road widening project is moving forward, with the first two phases — State Road 85 to Ashley Drive — fully funded, and phases 3 and 4 design work funded, Bitterman said.
The last two phases include widening the corridor to four lanes from S.R. 85 to Interstate 10.
Construction on the first two phases will begin in the summer of 2017, Bitterman said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview west bypass could enter serious study phase