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One Year Later: Hurricane 113 Evacuation Route Stands Ready
November 9, 2009
This week marks one year since the four-lane Highway 113 route from Flomaton to I-65 opened, providing a vital capacity increase for the major hurricane evacuation route.
The $22.7 million project, which included funds from the state of Alabama, Flomaton and both Escambia County, Alabama, and Escambia County, Florida, provides 13.5 miles of four-lane divided highway from Highway 29/31 in Flomaton to Exit 69 on I-65.
“We found out after Ivan what it was like to have a four lane coming out of the coast of Florida and coming into Flomaton into a two lane,” Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said at the highway’s ribbon cutting last year. “We backed up traffic for miles. And that’s when we really did realize we’ve got to do something to get people on up to 65. One of these days, we are going look back and we are going to say that building this road saved hundreds if not thousands of lives because we were able to evacuate people from the Gulf Coast where otherwise it might not ever have happened.”
The 14 mile widening project broke ground on September 11, 2007. Escambia County, Florida, contributed $4 million to the project. Flomaton and Escambia County, Alabama, each contributed $500,000 with the state of Alabama and the federal government picking up of the rest of the nearly $22.7 million tab.
The highway also includes a new four-span, 204 foot bridge to accommodate northbound traffic.
The November 12, 2008, ribbon cutting was actually over 40 years in the making. Florida and Alabama agreed back in 1967 to four-lane roads on both side of the state line for an evacuation route. Florida finished their part along Highway 29 by 1990, but Alabama did nothing more after acquiring right-of-way back in the 1970’s.
Pictured above: Dignitaries including Alabama Governor Bob Riley cut the ribbon on the newly widened Highway 113 in Flomaton on November 12, 2008. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
2 Responses to “One Year Later: Hurricane 113 Evacuation Route Stands Ready”
Next project is to build a bypass around Century/Flomaton.
35 MPH? Give me a break!
WELL 113 IS READY BUT HWY 29 IS A MESS