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Escambia Commission Votes To Request State Funds For Elevated Walkway Over Nine Mile At Beulah Middle
November 17, 2021
The Escambia County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to submit a legislative funding request for a pedestrian bridge over Nine Mile Road at Beulah Middle School.
Local leaders announced in August their plan to work together to seek funding for the walkway, which has a preliminary cost estimate of $3 million. Rep. Michelle Salzman, Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh and Escambia County School Board Member Kevin Adams pledged to seek funding for the project.
Bergosh has previously said the elevated walkway will not only be a safety improvement for the school, but also the surrounding community. Along with expanded sidewalk construction on the north and south side of Nine Mile Road near the school, the project will allow for increased pedestrian access and connectivity in the growing community.
The District 1 commissioner has said he will commit up to $500,000 in D1 Local Option Sales Tax funding over the next few years for sidewalk construction that will be complimented by the walkway.
There are nearly 1,000 students at Beulah Middle School. Currently, a bus is transporting students to and from the middle school. State statutes specify that two miles within a school is the walk radius. If no “safe path” exists, then bussing is required.
The bridge would be an approximately 180-foot span with American Disability Act (ADA) accommodations on both sides of the street. The bridge would be completed in coordination with the Florida Department of Transportation and consider future widening needed for the Nine-Mile Road corridor.
Comments
13 Responses to “Escambia Commission Votes To Request State Funds For Elevated Walkway Over Nine Mile At Beulah Middle”
waste of money and resources. more hold ups in traffic on nine mile now. ridiculous. the BOCC is deranged.
@Jamie, I agree with what happened to cross walk attendants?
I’m not 100% sure but I remember when my son went to school that if you lived within a few miles of the school then the parents were responsible for transportation.
Not sure if this is still the case yet many single and paired parents have to work to make it these days hence the kid having to walk or catch a ride with friend to school.
While I’m all for students safety, has anyone conducted a survey with the current students parents to see who would use this overpass even though many say no one crosses except maybe a few students in which arrangements can be made as if this overpass saves just 1 life then it’s all worth it.
Several years ago a friend of my sons was crossing 9-mile with other kids at night and he was hit and killed by a vehicle.
Shawn Youngstrum was just a kid going to Tom Thumb with friends one night. Yes anyone can argue he should not have been allowed near 9-mile at night or anything similar but a kid is a kid.
Day or night, drivers hit other vehicles still at the intersection so hard to argue it was due to nighttime at intersection.
There was just a caution light there when I moved here in 2002, the intersection has come a long way since then but if an overpass can save one kids/adults life then it’s worth it.
Hopefully it could be used for all the community to safely cross 9-mile especially with the rapid growth in our community.
@lou How many kids have you seen crossing at this school? I’ve lived here for decades, pass this spot regularly before and after school. I have not seen the first kid crossing nine mile road. There may be 1 or possibly 2, if that, it would be cheaper to have a bus pick them up, because plenty pass by daily with room for 1 or 2 more kids
Build it…they will come!
So based on last comments to NE Escambia article, most residents are overwhelmingly against a bridge to nowhere. Since there is literally NO ONE going to use this to justify the expense. Therefore, much like the landing field, Bergosh is going to stubbornly push forward his version of reality despite constituent’s desires.
If you all aren’t up to beat on ADA requirements I assume it will look something like this hopefully:
1. Air conditioning
2. Elevator on each side large enough for multiple wheelchairs
3. Wide enough to fit about 4 wheelchairs across PLUS foot traffic lane
4. Male female and neutral restrooms large enough for two wheel chairs PLUS foot traffic somewhere attached to the building
5. Two Wheelchair accessible water fountains
6. Generator backup in case the power goes out so no one is stuck on an elevator
7. Hurricane resistant windows
8. Window tint to block out harmful rays for persons with visual disabilities
9. Hand rails on watch side and if the bridge is wider than a certain measurement, a center hand rail.
10. Emergency alert system (call boxes with easy to press buttons)
11. Wifi capabilities
12. Staff member on duty to attend to anyone needing services while the walkway is open.
13. Readily accessible wheelchair in case one breaks
14. Directional chart explaining which way to go towards the school, flow of traffic, where Emergency call boxes are and bathrooms
And the state of Florida should mandate QUARTERLY inspections of the walkover so that a tragedy like what happened at Florida International University in Miami does NOT happen here.
A child’s life is worth Avery penny. They are the future of our great nation.
$3,000,000 means $7,000,000. How many kids walk across that road? Use a bus
This school was poor planning from the start. Traffic should have been considered from day one. They might as well have put it on the Interstate..
I think having a raised walkway for people to safely cross over a VERY busy Nine Mile Road is a great idea. It can be used for everyone, not just the school.
Build it high enough to accommodate truck moving through the area and to allow pedestrians to cross a dangerous road safely. A good expenditure of money IMHO.
How high do you want this walkway built? Large trucks go down this highway all the time
With Navy Federal’s large expanse and the added traffic it has caused, maybe the school should not have been built where it is.
Hindsight is 20/20!
A Bridge sound a bit much for the few students that wait for that bus across the street. How about hire or find Cross walk Attendants? A 3million $$ Bridge is a bit extreme.
I’m very happy about the much needed sidewalks though.