PANAMA CITY — The Florida Department of Transportation has finished acquiring the property it needs to build a massive piece of infrastructure aimed at clearing up traffic congestion at the intersection of U.S. 98 and 23rd Street.
Now, FDOT is in the process of demolishing structures, including several low-cost motels, to clear the properties for the beginning of construction on the $73 million flyover, which is scheduled to begin this summer, said FDOT spokesman Ian Satter.
"Luckily for us the right of way acquisition that we needed for this project has gone pretty smoothly," Satter said.
FDOT spent about $32.5 million to acquire 33 parcels of land to make way for the project, he said. That's going to take some, but not all, of those properties off the tax rolls, said Panama City City Manager Jeff Brown.
Brown estimated (based on the $32.5 million figure from Satter and the assumption that FDOT might have paid a little more than the fair market price to placate property owners who were put out by the project) the city would lose a little more than $100,000 annually in tax revenue.
That's a relatively small price to pay for a project that will benefit anyone who drives in Panama City, he said. The flyover, once complete, will not only shorten commutes; it will improve public safety as well, Brown said.
"The whole of the community," Brown said. "The benefit is traffic flow will improve through town."
One of those put-out owners is Mynta Harbison, who runs Los Antojitos on U.S. 98. She said she understood the need to fix the traffic problem, but she thought it wasn't fair that FDOT didn't compensate her for the loss of future earnings.
FDOT has allowed Harbison to stay open; the state will take possession of the property on March 1, and the restaurant will close Feb. 21, she said. Harbison said they will reopen at 1236 Beck Ave. in about a year with a new space and expanded menu, but she wasn't sure what the roughly 20 full- and part-time employees will do in the meantime.
"We're definitely going to try and find our employees employment while we're closed," she said.
Satter said FDOT designs projects like the flyover with an eye toward keeping such disruptions minimal.
"We try to have the least amount of impact on businesses and homes," he said.
While the flyover will result in smoother traffic flow when it's finished, during the construction local motorists should expect headaches navigating the area, Brown said.
"Everybody is going to have to exercise some patience," Brown said.