PANAMA CITY — Construction on the flyover for U.S. 98 and 23rd Street likely won’t begin until September, but Panama City is preparing now.
The project will be bid May 20 followed by a preconstruction meeting before a groundbreaking is scheduled, according to Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) public information specialist Donna Green. None of the closures will happen until May 20, Green said, but likely much later — closer to construction.
The Panama City Commission gave its final approval for six road closures along the route at its meeting Tuesday. The roads will be closed as necessary once construction starts, under the direction of FDOT. Construction should last through 2017. Below are the planned closures; timing of some of the detours depends on where work is being done at the time:
1. Alabama Avenue
- Length of detour : Less than 0.1 mile
- Location: Just south of U.S. 98
- Length of closure: Permanent
- Detour: East on 18th Street and then a left turn on Brown Avenue.
- Impact: Residents who live on Alabama Avenue, south of the closure area, say they are happy the route is closing — accessing U.S. 98 from that outlet is basically impossible now and everyone already takes the detour. “I actually think it would be better,” said Nelda Wrenn, who lives at 1726 Alabama Ave.
2. Brown Avenue South
- Length of detour: 0.3 miles
- Location: Just south of U.S. 98
- Length of closure: Three to five weeks
- Detour: Left on 18th Street and a right onto Stephens Avenue.
- Impact: “It’s hard to get out now,” said Kenny Stephens, who lives at 1703 Brown Ave. “During construction it will be hard to get in and out.” At a previous FDOT meeting, Stephens suggested a much longer detour around the proposed overpass by expanding Liddon Avenue North. FDOT officials were not receptive to that idea, he said.
3. Brown Avenue North
- Length of detour: 4 miles
- Location: Just north of U.S. 98
- Length of Closure: Three to five weeks
- Detour: Right on 19th Street, right on Baltimore
- Impact: The closest residences are about a half-mile north on Brown Avenue.
4. Hannah Avenue North
- Length of detour: 0.4 miles
- Location: Just north of U.S. 98
- Length of closure: Eight to 10 weeks
- Detour: Right on 19th Street, right on Brown Avenue
- Impact: With Hannah Avenue being so close to the project, Felipe Betancourt, 1902 Hannah Ave., is more worried about noise than inconvenience of driving. He will have to go out of his way to go to Panama City Beach for work, but he already takes 19th Street to get to places in Panama City. Betancourt even pondered whether the project will increase his property value.
5. Hannah Avenue South
- Length of detour: 0.3 miles
- Location: Just south of U.S. 98
- Length of closure: four years
- Detour: right on 18th and left on Brown Avenue.
- Impact: Wrenn feels Alabama is too close the intersection at U.S. 98 and 23rd. Hannah is a block closer. The Passport Inn off Hannah Avenue closed as a part of the project.
6. Collegiate Drive
- Length of detour: 1.6 miles
- Location: North of U.S. 98 up to the water’s edge
- Length of Closure: Four to six months
- Detour: Left onto 23rd Street and left onto Collegiate Drive
- Impact: The closure will effectively eliminate the main route most people take to get to either Gulf Coast State College or Florida State University Panama City. Because the road is closed all the way up to the curve, drivers from PCB cannot access Collegiate Drive through Carl Grey Park.