MILTON — Traffic leaving Navarre Beach is only getting worse, but the Santa Rosa County Commission is looking at short- and long-term solutions to improve traffic flow.
Earlier this year, the county contracted with Volkert & Associates to conduct a traffic study on Navarre Beach and the intersection of Navarre Beach Causeway and U.S. Highway 98. The company presented their initial findings at Monday’s commission meeting.
The two short-term solutions Volkert & Associates presented to the board were adding a roundabout to the intersection of Gulf Boulevard and the Navarre Beach Causeway and adding a dedicated left-turn lane for people leaving the causeway to turn onto U.S. 98.
Jason Small of Volkert & Associates said the roundabout is projected to reduce traffic delays for people trying to turn onto the Navarre Causeway by 84 percent. The left-turn lane onto U.S. 98 is projected to reduce the delay by 25 percent.
“That’s what folks want to see,” said Commissioner Bob Cole. “People want to see this board act accordingly on something that can be done pretty quickly and cost effectively.”
Cost estimates for those improvements were not given at Monday’s meeting.
Commissioner Jim Melvin said those improvements would be a temporary Band-Aid that would not completely fix the traffic problem. He said improving traffic on Navarre Beach needs to be a two-pronged approach, looking at both short- and long-term solutions.
“We need a strategic plan in place that will provide the relief that our grandchildren are going to need,” Melvin said. “The fact that we don’t get immediate gratification from it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. It’s the right thing to do.”
Melvin recommended the board look into building a new bridge that would start at State Road 87 and extend south onto property the county already owns on Navarre Beach. He said the new bridge should be four lanes and the existing bridge would be kept open, but he would advise terminating the two-way traffic and making it a one-way road off the island.
“If somebody had done this 10, 15 years ago, we would be looking at building a bridge right now,” Melvin said.
“You all know how these things work: It takes years,” he added. “But if we put this in the hopper now, I think sometime in the foreseeable future we’ll have a livable solution.”
Volkert & Associates will continue to work on short-term plans to improve traffic flow leaving Navarre Beach. Melvin plans to further discuss how the county can go forward with a new bridge at the board’s July 22 meeting.
In the meantime, county staff has taken one recent step to mitigate traffic.
The county, with approval from the Florida Department of Transportation, adjusted the traffic light pattern at the intersection a couple of weeks before Memorial Day to make it easier for people to leave Navarre Beach.
Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.