BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Bay County Transportation Planning Organization officials are making plans to reconstruct portions of State Road 20 from State Road 79 to U.S. 231.
Officials said they want to widen the roadway from 2 to 4 lanes as well as elevate potions of the road to reduce flooding.
“It’s all about expansion with the amount of cars on the road and the amount of traffic. How does it need to expand? Is it ready to expand yet? All those questions will be answered in the study,” Bay County Commissioner Bill Dozier said.
The project is currently undergoing a Project Development & Environmental study. The 27.2 mile study will determine the social, economic, and environmental effects of the project.
“It’ll take a comprehensive look at all of those aspects like the flooding. Does it need to be widened? Do we need to just add turn lanes at this time? What do we need to do at the intersections?,” Dozier said.
Dozier said the expansion project will help accommodate the growing number of motorists on the road.
“We all know how quickly our area is growing and that we need to move forward with as many projects as we can traffic-wise to be ahead of the curve,” Dozier said.
However, the TPO said the project is years away from breaking ground.
“As the study goes on, it is a long time before money can be appropriated. We have to get all this out of the way to justify appropriating the money to move forward with the project,” Dozier said.
Once the TPO receives the information from the comprehensive study, they will determine where it will fall on their priorities list.
The Florida Department of Transportation will be funding the project. The cost is unknown at this time.
