Improvement Made To Highway 297A, Pine Forest Road Intersection

September 10, 2023

Traffic turning southbound (right) onto Pine Forest Road from Highway 297A has never had to stop at the traffic light as Pine Forest southbound goes from one lane to two.

But somehow, that was never clear to a lot of drivers.

Escambia County recently made an improvement they hope will get the message across.

Traffic delineator posts — those little white poles that look like a pipe — were installed to guide traffic from Highway 297A right onto southbound Pine Forest Road.

NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

30 Responses to “Improvement Made To Highway 297A, Pine Forest Road Intersection”

  1. Jonathan Salters on September 14th, 2023 8:43 pm

    Now if people at Starbucks could just realize they can turn out onto nine mile instead of jamming everything up on Pine Forest Road. And Publix folks, did you know there is a traffic light you can use to get in and out?

  2. George on September 12th, 2023 4:18 pm

    That should read then turn on w hood dr

  3. George on September 12th, 2023 4:15 pm

    Jimbo, all you need to do is continue east on nine mile mile rd to Old Palafox and turn right on w hood dr and you are at walmart with not having to cross any lanes. Safest way no proble.s.

  4. Jimbo on September 12th, 2023 1:04 pm

    This needs to be done at the intersection of 9 Mile and 29 aka Pensacola Blvd. where folks are merging from 9 Mile and try to jump 3 lanes to turn into Walmart.

  5. jd on September 11th, 2023 9:28 pm

    people talking bout folks cutting 2 lanes to get to publix and such here’s a thot…..hw bout going straight thru the light from 297a like it was designed and they would have no issues cutting over 2 lanes……problem solved

  6. JScha on September 11th, 2023 7:10 pm

    The problem with this is the tractor trailer coming out of Dollar General the other day almost went into the ditch because of those things.

  7. Dee on September 11th, 2023 6:24 pm

    Comments after the fact have no impact. Join one of the country volunteer boards like the CAC. This is where you can actually contribute in a positive way. At least attend the quarterly meetings to know what’s happening and where input is actually solicited.

  8. David Huie Green on September 11th, 2023 12:57 pm

    The problem so many here seem to be having with the turning indicates why the pipes were needed in the first place.

  9. Kane on September 11th, 2023 10:05 am

    Drivers not knowing they could continue without stopping was never the problem. The problem was drivers stopping to cut over into the passing lane so they could then jet over to Publix or the turning lane for Nine mile road was always the problem. Now.if they should just fix the north bound bottleneck at the interstate and pine forest that would be great. Especially with the three new subdivisions that are about to make traffic there a nightmare

  10. Mama S on September 11th, 2023 10:02 am

    Let’s see how long it takes before those are destroyed. Just makes the intersection look trashier and junkier. Something needs to be done to clean the area up! Not to mention that supposedly, they are going to build on the corner and put up high rise apartments and office buildings. Don’t know where they are going to park? Junky and nasty and overgrown with debris and weeds. Why not clean all of it and add some lanes? Why not block off the side entrance to Publix and put a huge one way IN/OUT on the Nine Mile side of Publix? You take your life in your hands every time you try to get in and out of the side entrance! It is ridiculous!

  11. Driver from A to B on September 10th, 2023 7:37 pm

    Waiting on the roundabout….

  12. JJ on September 10th, 2023 4:49 pm

    Working to improve!? How about making Pine Forest 4 lanes from I-10 to 9 mile. Be the best improvement in the whole county. Watch the north traffic use the turning lane there at 40-50MPH

  13. Brandy on September 10th, 2023 4:29 pm

    Made it worse with the amount of traffic between 7 and 830
    We not have to sit till the right lane can more forward so we can get to the left lane and it holds us up they could have did better with some arrows and signs it’s a matter of a few months and these will be gone just like the north side at the light before u got to Walmart

  14. JABIN on September 10th, 2023 2:07 pm

    like the comic said heres your sign !!

  15. Smurf on September 10th, 2023 1:59 pm

    Ha ha. This is definitely not an improvement. I wonder how much money they wasted on this. Just like others have said it’s only worse. Come on highway improvement people. Think!!!!!!!! So dumb.

  16. Chuck on September 10th, 2023 1:51 pm

    Gee, wouldn’t want them to spend too much. Those new plastic pylons must have broke the budget. Why do we even pay property taxes up here. It’s not like Florida spends anything on road infrastructure here. If they do takes 20 years of planning then 8 years of construction. By then it’s already to late. Like Blue Angel how that’s not 4 land is a disgrace. How Pineforest is a 3 lane configuration is just crazy. I mean was it so hard to ads another lane northbound. Also Fairfield between the spur interchange and Pace Blvd should have been 6 lane at the start. Don’t get me started on the wasted money updating Chemstrand rd. Why is that not 4 lane til ten mile. As for 9 mile road should have been 6 lane between 29 and University , 20 years ago now it’s to late too developed. THEN SORRENTO ROAD perdido key with access to Orange Beach is huge thoroughfare how there is not one 4 lane road to perdido is just stupid.

  17. Reader on September 10th, 2023 11:36 am

    No, it does not make it harder to get across traffic to turn into Publix. To get to Publix, don’t turn right. Go straight through the light into the Publix parking lot!

  18. Lee on September 10th, 2023 10:55 am

    Sorry but this has only made it worst, it just makes it more difficult to move across traffic. Just make all the 297A traffic stop on red and use the legal “right on red after stopped” rule. Tear down that wall!!

  19. GS on September 10th, 2023 10:09 am

    Longtime resident I agree with you 100% on people cutting across to Publix and with the additional traffic on Pine Forest but as my Grandmother used to say “two wrongs don’t make a right”.

  20. Suzy on September 10th, 2023 9:38 am

    @Longtime…I agree..the pipes make it much more dangerous for folks heading south to turn right onto Nine Mile as they try to change lanes at the end of the pipes. People wanting to get in the left lane to go to Publix, Petrellas, bank, etc, or to turn left onto Nine Mile, change lanes there as well. Add in the mix people heading north trying to cross three lanes of traffic to turn into Starbucks. Awful decision!!

  21. EMD on September 10th, 2023 9:03 am

    What Long Time Resident said. Seems like more bad decisions made too late of just doing stuff to say it was done.

  22. JTV on September 10th, 2023 8:54 am

    @JB I apologize for my previous statement. I definitely read it wrong. Yikes

  23. RC on September 10th, 2023 8:29 am

    It’s past time to fix this problem! Route all 297A traffic down Pine Cone Road, and remove the congestion at Pine Forrest Road. With the new four lane Nine Mile Road and traffic light at Pine Cone, it could easily eliminate the problem.

  24. Longtime resident on September 10th, 2023 8:07 am

    @GS – It’s funny that you solely place blame on the southbound Pine Forest drivers. I go through this intersection every weekday and I see more drivers coming off 297A cutting over 2 lanes of traffic to turn in to Publix or trying to turn left onto 9 Mile Rd. Unfortunately, this so called improvement has made it worse. The problem is this intersection is too close to 9 Mile Rd. With all the business now on each corner and the expansion of urban sprawl in this area, the road infrastructure can’t handle it. Just like continuing on Pine Forest to the interstate. County and state keep allowing all this construction and the current infrastructure is now capable of handling it.

  25. JTV on September 10th, 2023 7:38 am

    @JB that’s a clueless move. You will be rear ended because you want to stop when others behind you know there is path for you to drive through. CLUELESS

  26. Honest John on September 10th, 2023 7:33 am

    I watched a semi last week having a hard time making that turn. No room to get a 53 ft.trailer around it.He very slowly had to run over them.

  27. GS on September 10th, 2023 7:13 am

    I dreaded going through that intersection because people going south on Pine Forest would cut over to the right lane ignoring the solid white line and traffic turning right off 297A. Apparently most drivers don’t know what a solid white line means. I hope the delineator posts help.

    Solid White Line

    A solid white line marks the edge of the roadway or separates lanes of traffic moving in the same direction. You may travel in the same direction on both sides of this line, BUT YOU SHOULD NOT CROSS THE LINE UNLESS YOU MUST DO SO TO AVOID A HAZARD.

  28. Sedition on September 10th, 2023 7:06 am

    I’m predicting that those won’t last long.

  29. JB on September 10th, 2023 1:32 am

    They’ll still stop. Drivers in this area are clueless.

  30. Charlotte Bates on September 10th, 2023 1:10 am

    I knew this for years. And I can understand some drivers are just trying to be safe, and when a lot of those little white poles, over the years, got damaged, or destroyed, it’s no wonder people were cautious. So glad to see the little white poles are put back up. Still need to be careful though.