CRESTVIEW — A sewer pipeline construction via directional bore under State Road 85 at Hospital Drive will be performed throughout the day on March 26, Crestview Public Works has announced.

No lanes on SR 85 will be closed, however, city officials ask that motorists drive with caution through the work zone to ensure the safety of the construction workers.

Hospital Drive at SR 85 will remain open to traffic, with construction equipment located adjacent to the road on Hospital Drive, officials said.

The work is part of the stormwater runoff and sewer line upgrade that will facilitate expansion in the area around Redstone Avenue, Wal-Mart and Lowe's.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Sewer upgrade may slow S.R. 85 traffic near hospital today

CRESTVIEW — Some folks who want a prime parking spot in front of the downtown business or restaurant they want to frequent say spaces are hard to come by around midday.

But those who don’t mind parking a block away say there’s plenty of parking and don’t understand what all the fuss is about.

A unanimous vote by the Community Redevelopment Agency board Monday evening paved the way for a downtown parking assessment this spring. City officials hope it will pinpoint exactly what Crestview’s historic district parking situation is and whether more parking is needed.

The board approved spending $300 to feed and provide water for 20 volunteers who will spend a 12-hour day tabulating parking data in each volunteer’s designated zone.

“Once every 30 minutes they will walk their route, walk the parking areas and record tag numbers of the vehicles that are there to accumulate data of all-day parking, incremental parking, and their duration,” Administrative Services Director Teresa Gaillard said.

“This… will give us a good count of where people are parking, how many people are parking, whether they're parking somewhere and eating, going to the beauty parlor or shopping, and then moving their car to another section of downtown,” she said.

Gaillard said the city will not announce when the study will occur “because we need a random figure.” If downtown patrons make alternate arrangements to avoid having their vehicle counted, “we’d get bogus data and the hopes of getting additional parking, if it’s needed, is gone.”

The CRA board directed Gaillard’s department to conduct the study as part of an ongoing assessment of district improvements.

“The goal is to put definite data with our general assumption that we’re short of downtown parking,” Gaillard said. “Could it be utilized better? Should we go so far as to say we need a parking garage? We won’t know until we get data.”

Residents interested in volunteering may contact Gaillard at 689-1619,  extension 225.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Volunteers sought to assess downtown Crestview's parking

CRESTVIEW — The “Crestview Connector Roads Plan" map hangs in city engineer Fred Cook's office. It hasn't received city council approval, and is not part of the city’s comprehensive plan.

But it represents hope for traffic relief.

“It was a kind of a visionary, or a dream map, that went into the Comprehensive Plan document,” Cook said. As a tool to be incorporated into the city’s transportation plan and — ultimately — the state-mandated comprehensive plan, it is a discussion starting point, he and city planner Eric Davis said.

TWO ROUTES

The map suggests two routes to draw traffic off State Road 85.

Once, a southwest Rattlesnake Bluff Road-Garret Pit Road route seemed realistic, Davis said. “Then the 7th Special Forces came and they basically shut down that option,” because the proposed route came too close to the 7th Group’s training grounds.

A southeast route following Dry Ridge and connecting with Okaloosa Lane also seemed possible. “People have talked about this route for years,” Cook said. But both ideas would require routing traffic through the Eglin Air Force Base reservation. “The problem is, it’s very difficult to get right-of-way granted from the Air Force,” Davis said.

The Okaloosa Lane route particularly is unlikely to get Air Force approval, because it would introduce traffic on a road that aligns with Duke Field's approach route, adversely affecting nighttime flight missions.

CONNECTIONS

The dream map includes several other connectors:

• An Arena Road north-south connector to Lloyd Street, across U.S. Highway 90 and connecting via Normandy Road with Old Bethel Road.

• A north-south Northview Drive connector off the P.J. Adams Parkway-Antioch Road corridor to Highway 90 at the south tip of Old Bethel.

• An east-west Rasberry Road Extension connector linking Arena Road and the P.J. Adams-Antioch Road corridor.

Of the dream map's seven connectors, only one, the Brookmeade Extension, has been partially completed. Its north end does not connect with Highway 90, as suggested on the map.

WORKING WITHIN BUDGET

City planners realize the map's likelihood of ever seeing fruition is slight given the cost of road construction, Davis said.

The Rattlesnake Bluff-Garret Pit connector would be more than twice the $160 million P.J. Adams-Antioch corridor’s cost, as it would require bridging the Shoal River and Interstate 10, he said.

Crestview’s resources are best used within city limits for connectors that might feasibly be done with limited city road funds, Davis said.

“We need to work on the Rasberry Road connections to Antioch, and in-town connections to make traffic move north and south better,” he said. “We need to do the $400,000 projects because the million-dollar projects and upper are beyond our budget.”

 “The map is really just a tool,” Davis said. “It’s way beyond the city’s capability. We’d have to partner with the county and state.”

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview planners' 'dream map' aids traffic relief discussion

CRESTVIEW — Imagine evening rush-hour traffic flowing smoothly from Cox Bridge to Stillwell Boulevard and beyond.

It's not difficult for Department of Transportation District 1 Secretary Billy Hattaway, who foresees major thoroughfares like State Road 85 with fewer street lights; subdivision design that removes cars from main roads; and more educated drivers.

Rethinking community design is a necessity, said Hattaway, who for two years has led efforts that have reduced Florida’s status as the nation’s former leader in pedestrian deaths.

Post-World-War II town planning  — including clusters of unconnected residential developments, each attached to main arteries — forced more vehicles onto already crowded main roads, he said while speaking in Crestview to the Northwest Florida Regional Transportation Planning Organization.

Hattaway’s solution is planning streets that connect developments — with traffic light-protected, mid-block pedestrian crossings and neighborhood businesses — that parallel major arteries.

New state rules require communities to consider roundabouts, also known as “traffic circles,”  before installing signals. They allow a continuous vehicle flow through an intersection, rather than halting traffic and allowing it to back up, and reduce intersection fatalities as much as 90 percent, he said.

Rewriting state laws so drivers and law enforcement officers can understand them also is among the DOT's priorities,

Hattaway cited a recent state statute defining a crosswalk as “that part of a roadway at an intersection within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks.” The revised statute now reads, “Pavement markings on the roadway surface … at an intersection used by pedestrians for crossing the roadway.”

Implementing these cultural changes — including narrowing vehicle lanes to create bicycle lanes without using additional pavement — requires shifting from a car-centric mindset, Hattaway said. His department is developing a pedestrian safety action plan, conducting road safety audits, creating guidelines for designing for pedestrian safety, and teaching traffic engineers the initiative’s benefits.

Targeted engineering, driver education through media campaigns and high-visibility enforcement are key components of the plan, Hattaway said.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Rethinking subdivisions, less reliance on cars can improve Crestview traffic

CRESTVIEW — The 8-mile drive through Crestview on State Road 85 could cost drivers as much as 48 cents if Florida follows Oregon’s lead and implements a mileage-based user fee to fund road maintenance and construction.

Two bills currently in the state Legislature include funding to study implementation of such a fee in Florida.

That’s because the current primary funding source, gasoline taxes, is unsustainable, Florida Transportation Commission assistant executive director Mark Reichert said.

Though there are more cars on the road, revenue from state and local gas taxes continues to decline because drivers are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles less.

Plus, Reichert said while speaking to the Northwest Florida Regional Transportation Planning Organization, more electric vehicles are essentially getting free trips by paying no gas taxes.

He likened this to stealing a neighbor’s cable TV service.

“You’re taking full advantage of the utility but you’re not paying for it,” Reichert said.

A FEE IN OREGON

The TPO, meeting in Crestview on Monday, heard Reichert’s description of a new Oregon user fee beginning July 1. Several other Western states are also considering the fee, he said.

Florida leaders are already in discussion with other Southern states about the potential for implementing a road user tax in the region, Reichert said.

The tax would be levied based on the distance a motorist drives. Monitoring devices in vehicles could tally trips on tax district roads, though, Reichert said, would shut off when the car drives over a state line or onto a private road.

“You only pay for those miles you actually drive,” he said.

UNPOPULAR TAX

He noted the fee is, understandably, unpopular among many drivers.

“A lot of people have issues about being tracked by the government,” he said, but already drivers are monitored by traffic cameras and other technology.

“If you have a smartphone, you can be tracked,” he said.

To ease their concerns, monitoring motorists’ mileage is conducted by private contractors. In addition, drivers can opt out of paying mileage-based fees and pay an annual flat fee.

“But it’s expensive,” Reichert said, saying it averages about 6 cents per mile, as compared to the approximately 2.5 cents per mile currently paid in Florida in gas taxes, license, tag and registration fees.

FAIR FUNDING METHOD

Unpopular as the fee is, Reichert said “it seems to be the fairest method” because it targets everyone who drives in the state, including visitors and drivers passing through to another state.

“We spend more on cable TV and cell phone bills than we do on the utility we use most and that drives our economy,” he said. “Obviously, continuing to rely on the fuel tax will not close the funding gap.”

However, he said, “The Florida Transportation Commission does not support a mileage-based user fee at this time.”

It would take several years for such a fee be implemented, Reichert said, but the state is wise to consider its options now.

“Most states are facing a crisis today,” Reichert said. “Our crisis is a little bit farther down the road.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Florida motorists pay these gasoline taxes:

•18.4 cents: federal highway tax (plus 6 cents more for Diesel)

•13.3 cents: state highway tax (adjustable to inflation)

•7.3 cents: enhanced state tax (adjustable to inflation)

•2 cents: constitutional fuel tax (set in 1943)

•1 cent: state-collected county fuel tax (set in 1941)

•1 cent: state-collected municipal fuel tax (set in 1971)

•1-6 cents: county optional fuel tax (6 cents for Diesel)

•1 cent: “ninth tax”

•Up to 12 cents: local option tax (10 cents in Okaloosa County)

Source: Florida Transportation Commission assistant executive director Mark Reichert

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Here's why you could pay for using Florida roads

CRESTVIEW — At first glance, a patched spot on Territory Lane looks like any other filled-in pothole. Not like a $34,000 repair project the City Council unanimously approved on Monday.

But that’s just on the surface.

Thirteen feet underground, more than 350 feet of 24-inch diameter drain pipe has failed, causing storm water to undermine the Fox Valley development street, and threatening other buried utilities.

“What happened, we think, is last year through all the rain and flooding events … the water and static friction is tearing away layers of it,” Public Services Director Wayne Steele said. “Not only that — it caused separation of the pipes and joints."

Fox Valley’s developer laid the fiber and concrete composite HardiePipe about 10 years ago. Steele said video inspection revealed the damage.

To excavate and replace the pipe would require about 370 feet of Territory Street to be closed and torn up, blocking residents from their homes for several days, Steele said.

Instead, Steele recommended to the City Council that a contractor insert a cured-in-place liner inside the pipe's damaged sections, which would provide “a solid end-to-end seal of the failed pipe.”

After insertion into the damaged pipe, the liner is steam-cured, or hardened, melding it to the original shape of the damaged HardiePipe.

Because the pipe failed after a decade of use, Councilwoman Robyn Helt expressed concern that there may be other HardiePipe lines that might also fail. But Steele said the city rarely uses the pipe due to its high cost and maintenance. 

“We should be evaluating materials the developer chooses to put in," Helt said. "This is material a developer put in but now the taxpayer has to pay to fix.”

Helt and Councilman Mickey Rytman asked Steele to see if the manufacturer had a warranty on the pipe to help offset Pensacola Concrete Construction’s winning $34,077 bid for the repair.

The money comes from the Street Department’s materials budget, leaving a balance of $63,026 for the rest of the fiscal year.

Work is expected to begin next week.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Failed Crestview drain pipe requires $34,000 sinkhole remedy