New Improvements to Hwy 98 in Navarre

U.S. Hwy. 98 Safety Improvements in the Works

A joint project with the Santa Rosa County and the Florida Department of Transportation will soon improve the safety for pedestrians and cyclists along U.S. Hwy 98 with the addition of eight foot wide paved shoulders on the east and west lanes from the Naval Live Oaks Reservation at Gondolier Boulevard to the Navarre Beach Causeway. The addition of the paved shoulders will be funded by the Santa Rosa County Commission using $1.35 million in transportation impact fees through a local funding agreement approved on February 23.   FDOT will be responsible for overseeing the construction of the project.

As a separate project in the works, the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners will vote on March 22 to apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transportation Enhancement Activities Grant in the amount of $2.5 for the design and construction of a pedestrian walk over near the Navarre Visitor InformationCenter in the vicinity of Presidio Street . If approved by the board, the grant will be submitted mid-April and notification of project adoption to the TPO project priorities list, is expected in September.

The shoulder widening and paving project increases the shoulders from the current four to five feet, to eight feet and will be completed in two phases. The first phase, from the Gulf Breeze Zoo to the Navarre Beach Causeway is part of a FDOT resurfacing project that extends from the Gulf Breeze Zoo to the Okaloosa Countyline. Construction is expected to begin after the start of the fiscal year beginning July 1. The second phase, from Gondolier Boulevard to the Gulf Breeze Zoo will be completed as part of a FDOT repaving project of the areas of U.S. Hwy. 98 from the Pensacola Bay Bridge to The Zoo, and is slated to begin construction after July 1, 2013 .