CALLAWAY — A bridge replacement project several years overdue will finally kick off in the coming years thanks to an $8 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
The causeway over Laird Bayou, also known as Cooks Bayou, on County 2297 has been on Bay County’s radar since well before 2012, when officials approved $500,000 for design and permitting of the project in the hopes of receiving state funding. Prior to that, the causeway cost the county $300,000 for emergency repairs to stabilize the crumbling box culverts that support it.
“It’s been a problem for a number of years; the causeway has unsuitable material for the use,” said Bay County traffic engineering manager Keith Bryant. “This route is the only reasonable access for Sandy Creek, all the citizens that live down in Allanton and for Eastern Shipbuilding.”
The project will construct a bridge, an elevated structure, instead of a causeway, which is a raised road positioned closer to the water. Bryant said the raised structure also will help improve water flow in the area and provide easier access for boaters.
Funding for the bridge is included in FDOT’s 2016 work plan, and with the state fiscal year set to begin this July, Bryant hopes to have construction bids out by late summer. Staff is now working to finalize permits, he said.
“It’s going to be a great project,” Bryant said. “We’re excited about it.”
Carol Roberts, president of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce, said securing funding for the bridge was one of the top priorities on the chamber’s legislative agenda last year.
“That was really a community effort,” said Roberts, citing efforts from the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, the county, chamber and private businesses.
As the primary access road for Eastern Shipbuilding’s larger Allanton Shipyard, Roberts said the bridge is essential for supporting business growth for the company, which employs about 1,500 people.
Lisa Barnes, special projects manager at Eastern, said the high frequency of truck traffic in and out of the shipyard requires a more reliable route.
“We have a lot of deliveries to our shipyard,” Barnes said. “For everybody out toward Allanton, it’s replacing a causeway that has long outlived its life.”
The project could prove even more essential in the future as Eastern competes for a $10.5 billion contract with the U.S. Coast Guard, which could bring hundreds of new jobs to the area. The Bay County company is one of three finalists vying to build 25 next-generation offshore patrol cutters.
“It is a huge contract and we’re very pleased to be one of the finalists in that contract,” Barnes said. “Having the bridge is a good thing if we get that contract. There would be more materials coming in.”