Barry Talks Roads And Bridges At Town Hall Meeting

January 23, 2018

Escambia County District 5 Commissioner held a “roads and bridges” town hall in Walnut Hill Monday evening, as residents expressed their problems with closed bridges, long detours, dirt roads and speeders.

There are 145 county maintained bridges in Escambia County, with 110 of them in Commissioner Steven Barry’s district.  And eight of those are current under reconstruction, which has been a source of much grief for hundreds or even thousands of people in District 5.

The North Escambia area from Molino north to the Alabama line has been dotted with bridge closures over the past year or more. Some of the closures were planned projects funded by the state, while others were emergency closures due to an aging and failing infrastructure…most North Escambia bridges on county roads were constructed 50 or more years ago with concrete spans on wood pilings. Many of the detours are miles long, some require the use of slippery dirt roads.

Barry said the county has installed one per-fabricated steel bridge on Arthur Brown Road in Walnut Hill (read previous article) that will allow the bridge to reopen just two months after a rapid emergency closure by the state.

The steel bridge will last about 50 years as compared to 75 years for traditional concrete, Director of Public Works Joy Blackmon said,, but the entire bridge project will be done in two months with a cost of about $400,000 as opposed to $1 million for a concrete bridge.

“The technology is a good use of tax money that gets the residents back to their normal lives faster,” Barry said.

County officials have said they hope to use more of the bridges on future county funded bridge replacements.

Currently closed bridges in Escambia County are listed below, along with projected reopening date:

FDOT Projects

  • Highway 99 At Pine Barren Creek — April 28
  • Dortch Road at Beaver Dame Creek — February 9
  • Highway 97A at Boggy Creek — February 2
  • Highway 99A at Boggy Creek (at Walnut Hill Baptist) — March 3
  • Highway 196 at Jacks Branch — June 16

Escambia County Projects

  • Highway 99A – January 29 (near Pineville)
  • Occie Phillips Road — April 3
  • Nokomis Road – April 29
  • Bratt Road – November 18

The Florida Department of Transportation has provided Escambia County with a bridge inspection schedule, which will allow the county to know in advance which bridges might be closed by the state due to a failed inspection.

FDOT bridge inspections are currently scheduled in January for:

  • Tate Road at an unnamed branch
  • River Annex Road at the Perdido River
  • Highway 196 at Jacks Branch
  • Crabtree Church Road at Alligator Creek
  • Schaag Road at branch of Jacks Branch
  • Schaag Road at Jacks Branch
  • Rockaway Creek Road at Rocky Branch

Several residents also express concerns to Barry about speeding drivers.

“I want something to stop these people from speeding,” a resident of Pine Forest Road said. “Of 75 vehicles that passed my house, 73 were speeding. The other two were John Deere tractors.”

For more photos, click here.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

6 Responses to “Barry Talks Roads And Bridges At Town Hall Meeting”

  1. Dudley Herrington on January 24th, 2018 8:47 am

    Steve Barry is the best Commissioner District 5 has SEEN in a long TIME !
    Thanks For All You Do.

  2. Frankie Lewis on January 24th, 2018 7:50 am

    to replace bridges is expected and to get started and only work on them one day a month is all to common.

  3. Duke of Wawbeek on January 24th, 2018 6:34 am

    These contractors should be required to post a performance bond, people should not celebrate multiple birthdays between start and finish.

    These are not three mile bridges!

  4. Citizens on January 23rd, 2018 5:40 pm

    Thank you Commissioner Barry and other Escambia County employees for taking the time and effort for reaching out to the constituents Of North Escambia.

    Thank you for your continued attention to this area. Much appreciated.

  5. Elmo on January 23rd, 2018 3:52 pm

    Steven Barry is the only Commissioner that has continued to visit and support the North Escambia County areas. I have been very pleased to have voted for him as well as meeting him at several community locations. I think her equally supports his entire district. Thanks Commissioner Barry!

  6. randy on January 23rd, 2018 7:17 am

    mr barry has done a great job .. the only one who voted against the gas TAX

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News