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Highway 97 Repaving To Begin After Thanksgiving Weekend
November 21, 2009
Work is set to begin the week after Thanksgiving on a $5 million resurfacing project on Highway 97 from Molino to Alabama that will take about 10 months to complete.
The entire 22.5 mile length of Highway 97 will be repaved from County Road 95 in Molino across Highway 29 to the Alabama state line. No major drainage changes are expected to the route’s 55 cross drains under the highway, with the exception of some possible changes near the intersection of Highway 97 and Crabtree Church Road. There will also be new and replacement guardrails installed along the state highway.
“They will probably start with some isolated drainage work,” according to Tanya Branton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation. “There should not be any major lane closures in the first few days.”
Once work begins on the actual highway, work crews will restrict traffic to one lane through the work zone. Weather permitting, the project should be completed in September 2010.
“They will maintain accesses to businesses and residences during the process,” she Branton said.
Existing 12 foot wide travel lanes and five foot paved shoulders will be milled and resurfaced. This project does not include the four-laning of Highway 97. A four lane highway is not in any of the state’s current plans for Highway 97.
NorthEscambia.com will work with the Florida Department of Transportation and the contractor to keep you updated on the status of the project.
Pictured above: Highway 97 (running left to right in the photo) in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
10 Responses to “Highway 97 Repaving To Begin After Thanksgiving Weekend”
Bannineau Park needs to be Paved from start to finest,Hwy 99 needs to be repaved and wideing all the way.I wonder how many people have to Die before something is DONE?
I think they should just mill up the current blacktop! That way us “few” people still living here would have prehaps the states first, largest, and longest dirt highway! GETRDONE!!!
Bleh; You live a very sheltered life and apparently don’t get out of the house very often. Your comment about Hwy 97 proves that. There are lots of highways that are completely uninhabited for many miles but they are main arteries and must be maintained. The Alcan Highway and the Everglades Alligator Alley are a couple of examples.
YES people live out here..& my son rides a bus everyday to school on this road…that is my concern..the bus drivers & my kid getting home later than he already does…his is not the only road that needs repaving “out here”! the road i live on is a cut thru from Molino Rd to Highway 97..w/all the trucks & rain & the cars that use Sunshine hill rd..I hope soon my road too!!! & put speed bumps..people drive like there is nothing around here…my kids & my pets are here & have been since it was just a “dirt road”..MORE $$$ needs to be spent in the northern end of the county..which by the way is a EVACUATION ROUTE”
Huge waste of money! Not enough people live out there for this much to spent! For all the talk of a recession , its hard to believe this much would be wasted!
Hwy 97. doesn’t look that bad, but it is really hollowed out where the tires run. This makes people’s cars and trucks drive bad, especially ones with wide tires. When it rains a lot, water sits in these troughs and makes it a hydroplaning danger… within the next couple years, the old pavement would be crumbling more and potholes appearing.
I’m glad they are repaving it… y’all better be careful…. you yell too much that it doesn’t need it, they’ll change their mind and repave some south end roads…
I drive Hwy 99N every day, and I agree, it does need repaving much worse than Hwy. 97. However, CR99 is a county road and this is a state project. If they were NOT going to repave Hwy. 97, we wouldn’t be getting ANYTHING, because there are no other ’state’ roads in the north end.
With all the engineering, environmental impact studies, property purchase, and putting in a new entire road-bed, four-laning Highway 97 would cost at least $120 million dollars (if not more). That’s more money per MILE than the ENTIRE cost of this project. Besides that, there are a lot of people who live on 97 who do not want to see that happen.
The money will be spent somewhere… so how about everyone just be thankful that we’re getting a minute slice?
Where do you people live and drive? County Rd 99 is fine, it doesn’t have the traffic 97 does. Maybe if 97 is four laned there will be fewer death causing accidents, fewer deer related accidents, and all the other things that go on on this road.Per Mr.G I drive 99 at night every night and there is no traffic to speak of and very few deer sightings. On the other hand 97 is congested almost twenty-four hours a day. With the casino traffic it has gotten worse. Oh that’s a thought maybe the Indians will help us pay for it since they will benefit. Seeing as ho Florida paid for the Highway 31 to Brewton expansion.
They need to repave County Road 99 from Hwy 97 all the way to Old Bratt Road more so than Hwy 97 !!!
I travel 97 frequently too and I don’t see the need for 4 lanes. They could add a couple of passing lanes, like the one on hwy. 31 coming from Bay Minette and solve the occasional congestion. I DO see the need for people to leave the house 5 minutes earlier, so they can get to work on time without having to drive 70+ mph.
Does anybody know why this is needed? I travel this highway everyday to work and the only thing wrong with it is that it needs to be 4 laned. Its a shame the state can’t give the money for this to the county so they can widen and repave CR 99.