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Jeff Bergosh Guest View: We Need A Decider
December 29, 2017
Guest editorial by Jeff Bergosh
In order to cut through red tape, sometimes one needs to get to a decider who can come off his/her script, use common sense, and make a smart decision.
In Escambia County, we have a situation brewing that desperately needs a decider, at the Federal level, to intervene.
This is about jobs, growth, and infrastructure–and millions of dollars are on the line.
Everyone knows that the exponential growth of Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) in Beulah over the last several years was a good thing. Everyone knows having the largest Credit Union in the World locate a second headquarters here is a good thing. All 6,200 Pensacola employees that work at NFCU presently know that having NFCU in Pensacola is a good thing. It’s all good!
But the growth is straining the infrastructure and even though NFCU’s campus is a mere 1 mile from the interstate—traffic still backs up into and out of Beulah morning, noon, and night.
I’m told by high-level sources within NFCU that it takes employees as long as 20 minutes to get out of the parking structure and onto 9-Mile road in the afternoons—due to the traffic congestion on the only way in and out.
This situation is straining morale for the workers and the nearby residents that also deal with this problem daily.
In a year and a half, the four-lane expansion of 9-Mile Road will be complete and will help with the congestion going in and out of Beulah..
In 7-10 years, the Beulah Interchange will help significantly.
In the meantime, though, a second exit out the back of the NFCU property could easily be built. And it would help immediately and immensely.
It’s literally about a hundred feet from the end of Navy Federal Way to the out-going lane of the visitor’s center off of Interstate 10.
A one-lane, egress-only road out the back of NFCU and into the visitor’s center exit ramp (100 feet) could be built quickly and (relatively) inexpensively.
Congressman Matt Gaetz and Governor Rick Scott have been engaged in this effort. Mayor Ashton Hayward has engaged in this effort. People are trying to make this happen.
Unfortunately— this initiative is being stymied at the Federal Level.
Apparently, because the distance between this potential exit and the existing exit 5 (Hwy 90) is less than a mile, this is disallowed. There must be at least One (1) Mile between exits according to the “rules.” (The distance between the visitor’s center and exit 5 is about .95 Mile)
So this technicality is what is killing this initiative….
Why can’t we get a waiver, though? Why can’t we get a decider to look at the overall big picture and intervene?
People are now shrugging their collective shoulders and looking for other options…
Digging a tunnel under 9-Mile road at the NFCU East exit to allow cars to go under 9 Mile road and get directly onto the interstate is now the new initiative.
This is really being seriously considered. It would take four years minimum and would cost upwards of $64 Million dollars– but this is being discussed. [Full disclosure: I have serious reservations about building a tunnel under 9 Mile Road……]
So something intelligent needs to happen and fast, or the planned expansion by NFCU to 10,000 jobs might be jeopardized. (e.g. those additional 3,800 jobs could go somewhere other than Pensacola).
This would be an unmitigated disaster.
We must prevent this loss by finding a decider with the guts to make the smart call.
We need this decider’s intervention yesterday.
Jeff Bergosh is chairman, Escambia County Board of County Commissioners
Comments
22 Responses to “Jeff Bergosh Guest View: We Need A Decider”
The problem is that folks do not know what they are doing. The exit is logical and will happen. Getting beyond the incompetency of the folks who are planners and politicians takes time. Here is some help…..service roads are always allowed to an greeting center and there is an application process for the same which does not change the exit distance, but allows more efficient entry to the service area. Now it will require that signage be put up that the road is a service road and not a public road, and then it is simply a question of local enforcement to restrict its use by the public……oooooopppppps. These private service roads can be found throughout the interstate system. When I visit friends, I use one in another state and they cleverly do not put up signage, and nobody makes a stink. I think rather than waiting for some magical great decider, that it might help if some people knew what other states are doing with service roads to oasis and visitor centers. Now an application for a public road may take years, but a service road should be weeks.
This is the “progress” most of you wanted. Quit blaming the BOCC. You know they are morons who will only work hard at election time. So if you know their incompetent, don’t expect anything different now.
I can’t wait for the Beulah Beltway to bring all the crap (Ensley) to Molino. I’ll gladly deal with it for a few years so my property value shoots up, I can make a bundle, and move to Walnut Hill or Jay from the land my family has been on for almost 100 years. Sad, but inevitable.
Seems the only reason the Escambia BOC(orrupt)C ever gets involved with anything (especially JB) is if there is something for them to gain personally. History shows that if the people in district 1 are against any proposal you can rest assured the BOCC will vote for it. Vote him out
So many negative comments and complaints. Not one person offered an insightful solution. Would’ve could’ve should’ve. The problem is here and it’s now. Instead of complaining why not be a part of the soloution instead of a part of the problem. Navy Federal does stagger shifts every hour on the hour. Somebody named “A” down there said if Navy Federal gets an exit ramp then everyone is going to want an exit ramp. Seriously? How many other places have to plan for this amount of traffic on a daily basis. None in Escambia County, that for sure. How is this a bad idea? There is enough merge space to allow vehicles to merge onto eastbound I-10 and it would alleviate the traffic nightmare on 9 mile road. It’s a good idea and it’s being held up because of a loophole. It’s a common sense approach to making a lot of people happy. Commissioner Bergosh, I wish you luck. I’m starting to think that if you made everyone happy, they wouldn’t have anything to complain about. Come on y’all. Show some support for someone trying to do good and offering solutions.
I think we all suffer together on this one.
And Navy Federal has shifts coming and going 24 hours a day staggered.
I think the BOCC and staff were too busy buying lots in Nature Trail when the insiders found out the Navy Federal was coming to Beulah. Look at the original lot owners out there and decide for yourself!
I have watched Beulah grow from a quiet, farming community to a thriving large suburb. This in its self is a sad venture. With that being said, it has be thought out all wrong. It is completely backwards. The off ramp and four lane should have been built first on Beulah Rd. This would have handled the over crowding of 9 mile rd. I think Bergosh is doing a great job with what he has to work with.
At least he has some insight. I live close to this traffic disaster.
It takes me 20 minutes to get from 97/297 intersection (by my house) to get on I10 exit 5 if I leave between 7-8am. I usually leave for work early or later.
The traffic light timing is just plain crazy, whoever decided the timing for that should be exiled to venezuela. 9 mile traffic gets about 10 seconds to move, maybe 5 cars, the traffic coming off the interstate gets over a minute, probably more.
Whoever is in charge needs to do something about this NOW. Way out of hand.
Navy Federal does need to change work hours, they are putting a burden on the public(far more people than the ones that work there). If I lived in Buelah, I would have been long gone. We have some friends in nature trail, moved in a little over 2 years ago, built their dream home, ready to sell it at a loss. Can’t blame them.
This just absolutely needs to be addressed right now.
Once again, I think that this proves more of a reason for consolidation.
Bergosh Blog is informative. He seems to be enthusiastic and hard working, looking for solutions and thinking out of the box. I wish him well at his term as chairman of BOCC.
A district five blog would be informative. (Silent Steven)
But yes the road situation is odd around here.
Bridges closing on emergency situations in NE, Five year work plans not honored yet idiotic project with beach round abouts.
Get priorities straight.
No to developers and yes to infrastructure. Be a Public Servant not a puppet sent in to line some pockets of developers.
Why can’t NFCU stagger the work forces hours, to manage the bottlenecks? Spreading out the coming and going of the work force is an immediate fix.
The plan for a back entrance has been the plan from the time the credit union got the first layout approved. Our people just thought they would push it right through.
The leadership at the county, state, and NFCU should have worked this out before all of the growth. Each share some of the blame for this mess. The roads and infrastructure should have been improved before any of the massive growth was allowed. I’m sorry that NFCU employees have to wait to leave work, but the folks that have lived in the area before NFCU existed are waiting just as long.
Also, Christmas was Monday, why hasn’t there been anyone working on the road project all week? There must not be much of a rush to get this job done if everyone can take the week off. This project could be completed much faster if work was done day and night.
Why all of the sudden is Pensacola worried about jobs and infrastructure? The powers that be locally have done a fine job of thwarting any industrial growth here for years, and now that NFCU is here the sky is suddenly falling! Your precious beach costs millions to taxpayers every year while getting harder and more expensive for those same taxpayers to visit the beach that they pay to maintain. Ft. Pickens Rd. closes every time we get a sneeze of weather now and the only interest seems to be in tourism. In case you haven’t noticed, the tourists still come rain or shine so that’s not an issue. Business growth is what’s slow. It would seem that the only major players in the growth game right now are NFCU and the upcoming VTMAE project(which will likely throw that part of town upside-down once it opens as well…remember infrastructure?) For four or five decades Pensacola’s lack of forward thinking and ability think think ten years down the road has kept it a little hole-in-the-wall retirement village and it shows in growth and wages. Until some new blood surfaces in leadership/ownership of the community(Studer tries but they fight him too)we’ll continue to founder while other areas will get the fresh biscuits. Forward thinking and looking ahead, what a concept.
I have lived in this county for 50 years and as always, the county never plans for the future. They wait until issues are so dire to do anything about them, which causes a bigger problem than it would have in the beginning. Our roads have never been properly maintained. When road projects are started, why does it take years to complete? The County Commissioners have always focused on tourism & not the well-being of our residents.
It sounds like maybe we HAVE a decider and the decision was NO.
I believe what you want is someone who says YES to your plans and desires and NO to anyone who disagrees.
David for clarity
IF an exit from Navy Federal campus up to I-10 helps relive some traffic congestion on 9 Mile Rd, then I’m okay with that plan. However, how did we get here?
I think Escambia County Commissioners knew over 2 years ago (probably more) that Navy Federal planned to MOVE 7 THOUSAND employees from Virginia to here. They knew that 9 Mile Rd was not big enough for the expected traffic flow. Only now with highly congested traffic from Beulah Rd all the way to US29 with the large influx of new residents do people at Escambia County ring the alarm and start building expansion on 9 Mile Rd. That project should have started 2 years ago!
If you want the business and the tax base that comes from all these new residents, then you have to plan ahead. Face it, BOCC. You didn’t.
A local guy who works at Navy Federal told me 2 years ago that Virginia employees were given incentives to move from there to here. He was seeing 50 new faces a week. I don’t know if that is still true today, but that is how hard NFCU was pushing this move and expansion. Sure good for business and county taxes. Horrible for local residents in Beulah.
And that’s MY opinion.
What A said!!
If the County Commission would have been doing its job for the last 20 years, the federal Govt wouldn’t have to intervene. Instead of writing articles, go to work on solving the problem.
Well, NFCU has been here for how many years and how long has the county known that their intentions are to expand as a second headquarters? Instead of expanding 9 Mile Road from US Hwy 29 to Beulah, maybe the county and state should have focused first from NFCU to the interstate, then to Pine Forest and simultaneously looked at the Beulah Rd. interstate access at Kingsfield Rd.
You’ve put so much money and thought into traffic circles on a barrier island at a staggering cost which will reach over $20,000,000 and I don’t know how many millions on a ferry service but all of that money and energy into a barrier island that only has traffic problems during the summer months but your long term residents that pay taxes deal with the 9 Mile Road traffic problem 356 days a year. The beach tourist will come even if you build dirt road with donkey wagons so your thought process is concerning.
I recently took a trip to another state over the Thanksgiving holiday and as we were traveling around with my brother, we traveled on approximately 5 miles of paved roads (with sidewalks and street lights) that was fully marked to include bus stops, turn lanes, etc. Everything around us was undeveloped land, pastures, cow farms and when asked why there are so many new roads leading to nowhere, my brother responded, “they build the roads first and then build as planned. Residential neighborhoods and industrial complexes can be built without the main roadways being congested with the construction traffic.” This was their areas 10 year plan which included the residential and industrial complexes.
So back to the local agenda, Escambia County has known the intent of NFCU. As a community, we welcome their support and commitment to our area as we have surely seen the rise of property value and the cost of buying a new house near NFCU will cost you almost $70,000 more that if you purchased it in Santa Rosa County. Our BOCC seem to wait until armageddon has hit but this has been an issue for some time. Traffic continues to be an issue and you may also want to explore a 9th Avenue on/off ramp for I10, that would help with the east side traffic. But again, that should have been explored 15 years ago.
Didn’t our county officials (jokes) have any idea how many people would be employed at the NFCU when it was in the planning stages? Now they want to dump hundreds of cars at one time, going the same direction, on the interstate at the welcome station. Really.
I don’t think its right to expect this accommodation. For one thing, it sets a terrible precedent regarding access onto and off of Interstate highways and especially the “back door” connection with a State Welcome Center. I’m sure NFCU studied the situation thoroughly before deciding to build their massive complex on that location. There are people all over the world who spend too much time in traffic to and from their jobs. It’s the cost of growth. Having special accommodations and exceptions made by a “decider” somewhere outside the scope of normal procedure would only create other problems not yet considered. Everybody’s going to want their own special ramp.