District 5 Residents Express Concerns About Roads, Transportation At Town Hall

March 11, 2014

Roads and transportation were  hot topics Monday evening as Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry held a town hall meeting in Barrineau Park.

Several residents told the commissioner about dirt roads that need paving, or existing paved roads that need widening or improvement.

Barry said an existing project was underway to widen Jacks Branch Road with pave shoulders, a much needed project, he said, “because everyone knows someone that has been hurt in an accident there”.  Work is also progressing, he said, toward paving Barrineau Park Road to the Perdido River to join with Baldwin County’s paved road. On that project, a purchase order has been awarded for about $260,000. The project should begin in 30-45 days and complete within another 120 days, or towards the end of summer.

Escambia County Public Works Director Wes Moreno said other paving projects were underway or planned for Enon School Road, Brickyard Road, McKinnonville Road, Blake Street, Eastman Lane and Chalker Road, among others. He said the county does as much of the prep work as possible, contracting out the actual paving.  When the county did the prep work a section of Bratt Road that was recently paved, taxpayer saved about $300,000, or about 40 percent, versus an all-contractor job.

Resident Bonnie Exner express her appreciation to the county for using old schools as community centers, while another resident expressed his displeasure in ECAT public transportation, saying that residents that ride the bus should pay a higher fare that covers the actual expense of their trip.

ECAT provides one route in District 5 — a three times per day mini bus with stops in Ensley, Cantonment, Molino and Century. District 5 residents with their own vehicles often face the longest commutes to work in the county, Barry said, adding that a four-cent gas tax for ECAT that was approved prior to him taking office was not necessarily fair for District 5 residents. The tax went into effect January 1. Barry said ECAT needs to increase ridership to help supplement their costs.

Resident Ted Brown suggest more “park and ride” lots to be used as central meeting points for commuters that take part in carpools.

Also at Monday’s town hall meeting at the Barrineau Park Community Center, Barry presented plaque to Ruth Gordon. She worked to have an unused classroom building at the Molino Community Complex re-purposed for Head Start, which will relocate there next school year from Cantonment.  She also served as the District 5 member on the West Florida Regional Library Blue Ribbon Task Force Committee.

Pictured top: Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry addresses a town hall meeting Monday evening at the Barrineau Park Community Center. Pictured top inset: Escambia County Public Works Director Wes Moreno discusses dirt road paving. Pictured bottom inset: Barry presents an appreciation plaque to Ruth Gordon who served on a library task force. Pictured below: Numerous residents attended the meeting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

14 Responses to “District 5 Residents Express Concerns About Roads, Transportation At Town Hall”

  1. Jeff on March 13th, 2014 8:31 pm

    429SCJ wrote:
    “@Gunsmoke, the beast should never be held in contempt for it’s nature.”

    Especially since the ‘beast’ is us.

    Commissioner Barry asks the right questions and his votes are based on facts. Everyone is for something, until the vote goes against their particular vision. Then the person who represented them becomes the enemy.

    Escambia County is just like everywhere else…flawed.

    What are you doing to change that?

  2. 429SCJ on March 13th, 2014 9:16 am

    @Gunsmoke, the beast should never be held in contempt for it’s nature.

    Commission Barry is certainly in general an improvement over his predecessor, beyond that I cannot measure in detail. Yet.

  3. Dudley Herrington on March 12th, 2014 6:31 am

    The MEETING was posted on NORTHESCAMBIA for several days.

  4. sandra on March 11th, 2014 10:24 pm

    The majority of the litter comes from the ECUA sanitation trucks. Follow them on a Tuesday and watch it blow out of the top. I cant believe they aren’t cited for littering.

  5. david lamb on March 11th, 2014 9:41 pm

    Steven Barry is doing a fantastic job in District 5. I, for lone, tha nk him tremendously for his support of the AG and 4H community. He is a voice of reason!
    Thank you Steven!.

  6. Ben Thar on March 11th, 2014 9:36 pm

    Wm Cox, doesn’t the litter just make you mad? My neighborhood would look pretty nice if it wasn’t for all the morons who throw trash out their windows.

    It’s almost like they pull over and clean out their cars on the road shoulder so they don’t have to put it in their trash cans at home.

  7. Gunsmoke on March 11th, 2014 7:51 pm

    The commish must be gearing up for re-election. So soon. Typical Escambia County politician

  8. r on March 11th, 2014 7:28 pm

    Kim you should have bought ur home on a paved road. Not tryin to be smart but everyone that moves north to a dirt road wants it paved the next day. Things don’t happen that way on on the north end sorry.

  9. Jeff on March 11th, 2014 6:26 pm

    Sorry I missed the Town Hall, but thank you Commissioner Barry for being a voice of reason for the citizens of District 5.

    Your continued work will hopefully pay off as we try to turn this lurching ship of fools around and realize the full potential of Escambia County.

    But, I read blogs and stuff, and I will not hold my breath…

  10. william cox on March 11th, 2014 1:58 pm

    Can any one get the LITTER pick up on Becks Lake road and while your there throw out a little asfalt on the last 1/2 mile of the same road // Land is there many people have sign letters // Just make it happen

  11. William on March 11th, 2014 11:23 am

    >>What about the 97 & 29 intersection? When are we going to see some work going on there??? Wish there had been notice on NE.com about the town hall

    We will address the 97 & 29 intersection in an upcoming article. Articles announcing the town hall ran Saturday and Monday. :)

  12. James Broel on March 11th, 2014 11:18 am

    Kim I would suggest you contact him by phone or email to answer that question.

  13. JD on March 11th, 2014 10:37 am

    What about the 97 & 29 intersection? When are we going to see some work going on there??? Wish there had been notice on NE.com about the town hall meeting. We do not get the paper but I do check here every day. It is my go to place for information. Thank you for doing a good job in keeping us informed, but would like more info about the county commissioners actions, meetings, etc.

  14. Kim on March 11th, 2014 7:20 am

    I want to know if this will include N.BARTH ROAD. I have a house on the corner that the payment stops about 200 feet from my driveway.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News