CRESTVIEW — While widening State Road 85 between Shoal River and Walmart is unlikely for decades to come, a new Florida Department of Transportation study offers ideas for alleviating some of the stretch’s notorious congestion at minimal expense.
Now, balancing budgets and time, state and county officials say the possibilities to a seemingly hopeless problem aren't so futile after all.
“It doesn’t make anything bigger,” Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles said, referring to the study's effect and potential improvements. “It says, ‘what do we have and can we use it more efficiently?’”
Like just extending the turn lane from southbound S.R. 85 to John King Road in 2013, which alleviated some backups into the left lane—called “spillback” in traffic engineering jargon—some of the ideas are simple.
But unlike major road construction projects, which can take decades, recommendations will begin almost immediately, FDOT public information specialist Donna Green said.
‘A COOL STUDY’
“It’s a cool study,” Boyles said. “Many of the solutions are very pragmatic and inexpensive. If you stack them all together it can make a significant impact.”
For instance, FDOT officials' recommendations include:
Live Oak Church Road/Antioch Road: reconstruct the northbound and southbound S.R. 85 left turn lanes; extend the northbound left turn lane by 300 feet to 485 feet to prevent spillback into northbound S.R. 85
P.J. Adams Parkway: FDOT notes heavy morning traffic from P.J. Adams’ two right-turn lanes onto S.R. 85, but makes no recommendations for improvements at the intersection.
John King Road: This is one of FDOT's major problem intersections, with four improvements recommended:
●Reconstruct the southbound S.R. 85 turn lane to provide two left-turn lanes onto John King and implement a protected-only turn signal.
●Work with Okaloosa County to construct dual receiving lanes on John King.
●Separate east and westbound John King lanes by concrete barriers to better control access at the south Tom Thumb driveway.
●Extend the westbound John King turn lane to 300 feet.
Cracker Barrel Road: FDOT officials note the intersection has no turn signal because it “does not meet the traffic signal spacing requirements” of Florida code and an analysis “indicates that the signalization of this location would create gridlock condition.”
FDOT officials instead recommend four corrections:
1. Construct a directional median at the intersection that will prohibit Cracker Barrel Road traffic from turning north onto S.R. 85 and Southcrest Drive traffic coming from Wendy’s and two hotels behind it from turning south onto S.R. 85.
2. Construct a northbound S.R. 85 turn lane 400 feet north of Cracker Barrel Road.
3. “Channelize” the southbound S.R. 85 turn lane serving Cracker Barrel Road to keep motorists from using it as a thru-lane to businesses south of the intersection.
4. Create an alternate access from Southcrest Drive onto John King Road.
Interstate 10 eastbound ramp: FDOT officials offer no recommendations for this intersection.
Interstate 10 westbound ramp: Though peak afternoon traffic occasionally spills into the left S.R. 85 northbound travel lane, the report states the primary cause is a large vehicle, such as a tractor-trailer, being unable to fit into the turn lane when it’s crowded. The report stated the combination “permissive” and protected left turn onto the westbound I-10 ramp works well. The intersection’s loss-of-service rating is a B, so the report made no recommendations for changes.
Mirage Avenue (Walmart access road): State officials recommend the city restripe the westbound approach to S.R. 85 from Walmart to allow a dedicated left turn lane, a thru lane and the dedicated right turn lane. Currently thru traffic crossing S.R. 85 and right turn traffic share the same lane.
STARTING SOON
As a final recommendation, FDOT officials say “implementation of an adaptive signal system” in the two-mile stretch, in which traffic signals adapt according to traffic volume.
What does this all mean? Boyles said the answer is something Crestview residents have wanted for decades.
“The study provides improved traffic flow between Walmart and the Shoal River Bridge,” Boyles said. “It focuses on small-expense improvements.”
However, the time table could be concerning.
Green said the Antioch and Live Oak Church Roads intersection will be the first to receive attention.
Still, it's a long way off.
“The design for John King and Southcrest will be done sometime around fiscal year 2018,” she said. Those projects will be closely followed by right-of-way acquisition and actual construction by 2020 or 2021.
In the meantime, Boyles said Crestview residents can look forward to not-so-apparent changes.
“There's a lot happening right now behind the scenes on the notion of a western bypass around Crestview,” Boyles said. “We're actively in the design phase and we're actively in the property acquisition phase from (State Road) 85 to I-10.”
He said residents may not realize it, but it's already happening.
“This is one of those things where there's a lot happening but nobody sees it because there's no asphalt going down yet,” Boyles said.
Live Oak Church Road/Antioch Road:
Vehicles per day: 38,241
Crashes in 2012-14: 32
Crashes with property damage: 14
Crashes with injuries: 16
Crashes with fatalities: 1*
*Fatality was a motorcyclist with narcotics in his system who ran a red light
P.J. ADAMS PARKWAY:
Vehicles per day: 44,342
Crashes in 2012-14: 53
Crashes with property damage: 47
Crashes with injuries: 6
Crashes with fatalities: 0
John King Road:
Vehicles per day: 38,529
Crashes in 2012-14: 55
Crashes with property damage: 46
Crashes with injuries: 9
Crashes with fatalities: 0
Cracker Barrel Road/Southcrest Drive:
Vehicles per day: 48,309
Crashes in 2012-14: 58
Crashes with property damage: 47
Crashes with injuries: 11
Crashes with fatalities: 0
Interstate 10 eastbound ramp:
Vehicles per day: 50,844
Crashes in 2012-14: 51
Crashes with property damage: 41
Crashes with injuries: 10
Crashes with fatalities: 0
Interstate 10 westbound ramp:
Vehicles per day: 47,913
Crashes in 2012-14: 33
Crashes with property damage: 25
Crashes with injuries: 8
Crashes with fatalities: 0
Mirage Avenue (Walmart entrance):
Vehicles per day: 51,183
Crashes in 2012-14: 50
Crashes with property damage: 39
Crashes with injuries: 11
Crashes with fatalities: 0
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PROBLEM AREAS
A new Florida Department of Transportation study of a two-mile stretch of State Road 85 from Live Oak Church Road to Mirage Avenue, which includes six intersections controlled by traffic signals, noted these issues:
●46,000 vehicles travel the two-mile stretch per day
●The stretch’s level of service is rated F
●In the last three years, 316 collisions were reported
●70 of the collisions resulted in an injury requiring transportation to a hospital
●The crashes at each of the intersections was greater than the average of similar roads in the district
● John King Road and Cracker Barrel Road are two of the biggest problem intersections.
INTERSECTIONS BY THE NUMBERS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Easy fixes eyed for some S.R. 85 issues