Escambia County Swaps Beulah Road To State For Perdido Key Drive

September 6, 2019

The Escambia County Commission unanimously approved a road swap Thursday night, trading part of Beulah Road to the state for part of Perdido Key Drive.

Escambia County will give 2.5 miles of Beulah Road from Mobile Highway to Isaacs Lane to the Florida Department of Transportation. In turn, FDOT will give 6.2 miles of Perdido Key Drive from the Alabama state line to Gongora Drive to Escambia County.

The county and FDOT have worked on negotiating the transfer since 2017.

The swap is expected to be a major step forward in the construction of a new I-10 interchange at Beulah Road for an eventual connector to Highway 29 somewhere in between Barrineau Park Road and Quintette Road. The so-called Beulah Beltway is envisioned as a four-lane divided highway with controlled or limited access.

And on Perdido Key Drive, Commissioner Doug Underhill says he’s looking forward to safety improvements, including in the area of the Flora-Bama.

It is expected to take about three months for the legal side of the road swap to be completed to make the deal official.

Pictured: A portion of Beulah Road. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

14 Responses to “Escambia County Swaps Beulah Road To State For Perdido Key Drive”

  1. Freda on September 10th, 2019 1:51 am

    I am so outraged by everything that goes on in Beulah. We are always having somthing done out here but no one wants our community to have anything. Everyone else gets bus service of some kind we get left out here with promise of stores for jobs. We have Navy Federal but really how many of us work there. Im just sitting on my land waiting for one or ten of these people to decide they want it so I can over charge for it like everyone else and leave. Im not sure what they are trying to do out here but it’s not good.

  2. dishearted on September 8th, 2019 6:37 am

    BOCC Bergosh says any damage to the road will be paid for by Fema @ 85% does he have any idea where that 85% comes from TAX dollars.

  3. k on September 7th, 2019 11:17 am

    @M in Bratt: comparing the length of road traded isn’t the comparison to make.

    The cost of what is needed, is why the trade was made. It’s a lot cheaper to maintain the six miles of Perdido Key drive than it is to build an interstate interchange, widen a road, and secure the necessary property north of the interchange in order to build a north/south throughway to divert all the navy federal traffic away from the already crowded Pine Forest / I-10 and Mobile Highway / I-10 intersections.

    The state has access to federal road construction grants, the county does not.
    I can only imagine what the I-10 interchance at Beulah Road would look like if Escambia County built it and paid for it and not the state….

    so for this particular swap a better deal cannot be had.

  4. Perdido Key Rat on September 7th, 2019 7:13 am

    BIG News is that Underhill finally got a 5-0 vote on something that works in his own favor.
    Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what is really the “God’s Own Truth” behind his actions? Maybe it is a good thing he’s doing but all is so heavily cloaked and veiled in his shenanigans that it gives the appearance of Not Quite the Whole Truth.
    Our guess is that Perdido Key will either become a Richy-Rich area where average folks are priced out, Or, it will be allowed to go back to nature after the next big hurricane.
    Time will tell. Meanwhile, has anyone seen the Perdido Key Mouse tunnels? Think they are filled with sand and not usable for the cute little critters.

  5. Can't fool me on September 6th, 2019 5:44 pm

    The interstate exit will be at Isaac Ln. The road north toward Muscogee Rd will have county dump land on the west and Devine Farms LLC land on the East. The land on the East will definitely be developed. It should not surprise anyone that a former county commissioner is a partner in Devine Farms LLC.
    Underhill wants to spend county money on Perdido Key Dr to gain favor in private interests. He has already prevented parking in a County owned parking lot for people that want to fish at night.
    Escambia county is crooked, and the power given to elected officials is RIDICULOUS.

  6. M in Bratt on September 6th, 2019 5:09 pm

    sounds like an idiotic swap. Escambia County is going to take over maintaining 6.2 miles of state road in return, the state will maintain 2.5 miles of road. The county should let the state take over all the roads that they will have and take the burden of maintaining them off Escambia County

  7. Jacqueline on September 6th, 2019 2:49 pm

    The Beulah Beltway was envisioned as a ‘controlled or limited access’ but there was also a second north/south route that was planned that had more access: The Developer/Woodlands Parkway.

    At this point, I am not sure that another north/south road in the Sector Plan will be needed and able to be funded so it will be interesting to see what the Beulah Beltway actually turns out to be.

  8. John Doe on September 6th, 2019 10:23 am

    BOCC = Board of County Commissioners
    LOST = Local Option Sales Tax
    MSBU = Municipal Services Benefit Unit
    D2 = District 2

  9. Mary on September 6th, 2019 8:55 am

    Please decipher BOCC, LOST,MSBU, D2

  10. wilykyote on September 6th, 2019 8:53 am

    Wonder why the swap stops at Issacs lane ?

  11. Gene on September 6th, 2019 8:39 am

    Why stop short of the I-10 overpass @ Isaacs Lane?

  12. Safebear on September 6th, 2019 6:47 am

    @Debbie – Controlled or limited access usually means no or very few driveways or intersections.

  13. Debbie on September 6th, 2019 6:02 am

    Controlled or limited access . What exactly does that mean ?

  14. Eagle eye on September 6th, 2019 2:00 am

    BOCC please do not take money out of general funds or LOST for the paths that were on the FDOT site awaiting funding, nor general funds or LOST to pay for roundabouts and traffic lights. MSBU or grants instead. Watch out for D2 and his private paradise interests.