CALLAWAY — Bay County commissioners have chosen an alignment for a proposed Gulf Coast Parkway that would run through the Callaway area.

It’s a route officials say could spur development around Callaway and improve traffic flow throughout Bay County.

Commissioners agreed Tuesday to send a letter to Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials stating their preferred route for the parkway is one that runs primarily through Bay County.

It’s just one more step in the process of building a four-lane, $518.9 million parkway that is proposed to extend through Bay and Gulf counties.

“The funding on this is coming much quicker than we’d originally anticipated,” Ken Schnell, Bay County’s director of public works, told commissioners Tuesday.

He said design work is underway for a segment of the parkway that would be built under any alignment scenario. It would stretch along Tram Road from Star Avenue to U.S. 98 in the Callaway area. Design work also has been advertised for a northbound loop that runs parallel to State 22, Schnell added.

Bryant Paulk, an urban liaison with FDOT, told commissioners their choice of routes is important in the process. The project commenced with a $25 million federal earmark, which helped fund a project development and environment study process that is coming to an end.

“While we are moving forward quickly on a couple of segments, overall, this corridor is not funded,” Paulk said.

He told commissioners they will decide on the priority of the funding in the future as they sit as members of the Transportation Planning Organization.

Callaway Mayor Thomas Abbott said he is pleased commissioners chose Alignment 17, a corridor the city already has endorsed. Callaway has run water and sewer lines out to the largely rural Allanton area, and that, combined with the new parkway, would open up the area for development, he said.

“We think that road infrastructure brings growth, and combined with water and sewer lines we put out there, we think the east side there is poised for growth,” he said.

5 routes

Through consultation with federal and state agencies, as well as input from the public, five potential alignments for the parkway have been identified.

The alignment Bay County commissioners selected is different than two recommended by Gulf County officials. Bay County’s choice is a 30-mile alignment that would include existing roads and new segments, starting at U.S. 98 in Gulf County and heading north, running east of Tyndall Air Force Base and into the Callaway area. It would continue north and hook into U.S. 231 via Nehi Road.

It’s a different route than Alignments 14 and 15, endorsed by the Gulf County Commission, which are farther east and include more roadway in Gulf County.

A total of $13.3 million has been budgeted to build the parkway segment along Tram Road in the Callaway area, said FDOT spokesman Ian Satter. He said construction on that segment is slated to start in 2016.

“There is nothing else (funding construction) in the five-year work program,” Satter said.

Officials say the proposed new roadway, whatever its final route, ultimately will connect U.S. 98 in Gulf County with U.S. 231 in Bay County.

“The existing corridor is becoming increasingly congested and the roadway is insufficient for freight movement via trucks,” the project’s website, GulfCoastParkway.com, states. “The proposed new roadway would provide additional traffic capacity, improve access to state roads, and provide an improved freight corridor for the region. The new route will provide for more direct access to U.S. 231 and in turn provide improved access to Interstate 10, as well as provide greater accessibility to the coastal communities in Gulf County.”

Currently, the two-lane U.S. 98 crosses through Tyndall Air Force Base.

“The proposed new facility will bypass the Air Force base, which will allow for heightened security on the base and provide an alternate route if passage through the base is temporarily blocked or restricted,” the website states. “Additionally, the new route will provide an alternative hurricane evacuation route for area residents.”

After conducting an environmental study, the FDOT also chose Alignment 17 for the parkway, Schnell told Bay County commissioners on Tuesday.

“We see that we provide north-south (connections) just like other alternatives do, but also provide east-west connectivity,” he said.

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