For nearly 50 years, locals and tourists have relied exclusively on the Brooks Bridge to get them from Fort Walton Beach to Okaloosa Island and back.
But half a century is about as long as the state Department of Transportation is willing to allow a bridge to serve motorists.
See a photo gallery of the Brooks Bridge over the years. >>
Read about the history of the Brooks Bridge. >>
The DOT’s announcement in December that the bridge’s days were numbered came as a surprise to residents, who have been left to ponder a replacement bridge and how it might impact life on both sides of Santa Rosa Sound.
“It will destroy our little city,” said Fort Walton Beach businessman Jim Tucker. “I don’t see it any other way.”
Tucker has heard speculation that a new bridge could extend as far west into Fort Walton Beach as the Indian Temple Mound and as far east on Okaloosa Island as the Emerald Coast Convention Center.
Fort Walton Beach Mayor Mike Anderson said city officials have no idea what the proposed bridge replacement will look like.
“There are just so many unknowns about what the actual footprint is going to be,” he said.
Tucker has offered to sell his business, The Boat, to allow for construction of an alternate bridge. His property likely is too far west on U.S. Highway 98 to be directly impacted by a replacement bridge.
ARTICLE: Efforts to build second bridge never gained public support. >>
That isn’t the case for Brian O’Neill and co-owners of the popular Props Brewery & Grill.
Props is a popular brew pub that opened in December 2011 in the Publix shopping center at the western foot of Brooks Bridge.
O’Neill said Props’ owners are well aware that a replacement span could be significantly wider than the existing 47-year-old structure and that their business could fall in its right of way.
“We’re in prime space to be bulldozed by eminent domain,” O’Neill said.
Eminent domain allows the government to take private property for public use as long as “just compensation” is paid.
Even if the bridge doesn’t go through Props, construction could have a significant impact, O’Neill said.
“A good piece of our business comes from the condominiums on Okaloosa Island,” he said. “If those folks are coming out from Santa Rosa Boulevard, look left and see construction, then right and see clear sailing into Destin, it’s a no-brainer.”
What is known is that when the Brooks Bridge was built in 1966, a 6 percent grade allowed it a 55-foot clearance for vessels passing beneath it.
The Federal Highway Administration now calls for bridges to have no steeper than a 3 percent grade, and the Coast Guard generally requires new bridges to clear the water by at least 65 feet.
Also, given that the DOT has graded Brooks Bridge an F for handling traffic beyond its capacity, it hardly would make sense to replace it without adding at least another lane of traffic in each direction.
In other words, Anderson said, the bridge would seem to need to be longer, flatter and wider.
With the development that has taken place on both sides of the bridge since 1966, Tommy Barfield, the DOT’s secretary for District 3, has estimated the cost of buying right of way could equal or exceed the cost of building the bridge.
The DOT and Coast Guard have said they will hold public hearings to air residents’ concerns before any construction details are finalized.
It appears, at least this far out, there may be some wiggle room when it comes to federal bridge construction guidelines.
“Nothing is in stone. We do not put anything in stone,” said David Frank, Coast Guard bridge administrator for the 8th District, based in New Orleans.
Frank said the Coast Guard will rely heavily on information gathered in a four-year, $3.5 million DOT study “to best determine the clearance requirements that meet the reasonable needs of navigation.”
State Senate President Don Gaetz also said the Federal Highway Administration might consider an exemption to its 3 percent slope mandate.
“If the community says, ‘We want to replace Brooks Bridge but don’t want to impact downtown business,’ we probably need to seek an exemption,” Gaetz said.
He suggested U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller be included in future discussions about the best way to replace the bridge.
Miller’s office said no one has notified the congressman of any bridge concerns, but he is willing to listen and lend a hand if needed.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.