Cost Rises To Design Replacement Bridge On O.C. Phillips Road

May 28, 2020

It’s going to cost more than anticipated to design a replacement bridge on O.C. Phillips Road over Brushy Creek.

In September 2017, the Escambia County Commission approved a Local Agency Program Agreement for design of the bridge replacement. In March 2020, during the 60% design and permitting phase, it became apparent that a different type permit would be required due to the scope of the wetlands impact.

Additional work includes delineation of jurisdictional wetlands, additional survey; species surveys; submittal of mitigation strategies, and agency verification, according to Escambia County. The cost for the additional work is $79,524 and will be shared 75% by the Florida Department and Transportation and 25% by Escambia County.

FDOT will reimburse the County up to $565,893 for expenses related to the design of the project. The required permit will iincrease FDOT’s share by $59,643, from $506,250 to $565,893. Escambia County’s share will increase by $19,881, from $168,750 to $188,631..

The current bridge on the dirt road was constructed in 1968.

Tap or click for a map.

NorthEscambia.com file photos.

Comments

4 Responses to “Cost Rises To Design Replacement Bridge On O.C. Phillips Road”

  1. David Huie Green on May 28th, 2020 1:58 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Former County Commissioner Grady Albritton’s campaign promise was, ” We would see pavement on O.C. Phillips Road if we elected him to the office.”

    I sat beside Grady at a political rally one time. The man certainly knew dirt. He informed me of all the flaws of all the candidates. I kept remembering the time he promised pavement in front of various people’s houses, and that he kept the promise — just not what anybody meant, not those who expected the pavement to connect with other pavement.

    (That’s part of the reason we tend to only consider known politicians for higher office. We know their track record, part of which is if they track mud.)

    David for dirt where it belongs

  2. bill on May 28th, 2020 10:02 am

    How many use this bridge daily, & do logging trucks use this route?

  3. Oversight on May 28th, 2020 9:18 am

    Government regulation getting in the way of government’s ability to fix something. And it’s only free government money that pays for it, right? SMH.

  4. Jerry Sanders on May 28th, 2020 9:00 am

    On the other side of the creek!
    Maybe this time the design will raise the bridge to a functional height during/after moderate/heavy rains? I lived just west of Brushy Creek for many years, and it was common place to drive down the hill to find the bridge forming a small “unreachable island surrounded by water. I would often ask myself, “What use is a bridge you cant reach”? When it was eventually possible to cross the bridge, after rains, I would find an often impassable “unpaved” steep hill to climb to reach the pavement at the top! Again, the question of accessibility, “If you can’t get to the pavement at the top of the hill, what good is it.”
    Former County Commissioner Grady Albritton’s campaign promise was, ” We would see pavement on O.C. Phillips Road if we elected him to the office”. I played an active roll in getting him elected and he kept his promise! He got an approximately one mile stretch of the road, half way to the bridge, paved. Problem was, like the bridge, that mile of pavement was in the middle of several miles of often muddy “unpaved” road, only adding another obstacle to reaching or leaving the west end of O. C. Phillips Rd, “home” ! I once suggested that MR. Albritton have to, at least once, drive my children’s school bus up that muddy, hazardous, hill after crossing the waters of the creek to reach the bridge, only to cross the waters of the creek a second time! Several of “us” learned the value of the saying, “turn around, don’t drown”. I’ve seen the bridge itself “totally submerged” several times over the years.
    Obviously a POORLY engineered structure. Lacking a proper engineering study of the bridge “and” Brushy Creek Hill will Not improve the generations old problems of safely traveling that still “half ^/ssed ” road! Still, I miss my home, on the “other side” of the creek…