Florida, Alabama pitch in to widen evacuation route

Originally Published by the Pensacola News Journal

Published - September, 11, 2007

by Phillip Rawls
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama and Florida officials will break ground today on a jointly funded project that will provide a four-lane hurricane evacuation route from the Florida Panhandle to Interstate 65 in Alabama.

It's a rare case in which a Florida county is helping fund a road project across the line in Alabama.

The addition of two lanes to Alabama 113 will not only save lives, it will save a town, Flomaton (Ala.) Mayor Dewey Bondurant Jr. said Monday.

"With the four-laning of 113, the economic impact for our city and county is going to be tremendous. It will keep Flomaton from dying," he said.

The new route will also benefit Florida by improving the route that tourists take to Pensacola-area beaches.U.S. 29 is already four lanes from Pensacola to Flomaton, on the Alabama line. But after that, motorists fleeing a hurricane are crowded onto a two-lane road for nearly 14 miles to reach the interstate.

Grady Ralls and Sons of Evergreen provided the low bid of $22.7 million to build the four-lane road. Besides the$4 million from Escambia County, Fla., the city of Flomaton and Escambia County, Ala., each are putting up $500,000. Alabama is using federal funds to pay the remainder, said Tony Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

The widening of the highway to four lanes should be completed in spring 2010, he said.Local officials began a new push after Hurricane Ivan heavily damaged Escambia County, Fla., and Escambia County, Ala., in 2004, he said.

Officials from both counties will join Riley and U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, for the ground-breaking today.