Project Details

US 98 (SR 30) is a principal arterial on the State of Florida's Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) and is presently a 4-lane divided roadway with a commercial context. With a resurgent coastal economy, traffic has increased on this 4-mile segment by 20% in recent years. Lying on a narrow strip of land between Escambia Bay and Santa Rosa Sound, US 98 serves as a critical link between the mainland and coastal communities of Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach, Navarre and Santa Rosa Island. It also provides access for tourists to Fort Pickens and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

FDOT has long prioritized improvements to US 98 and it has reached the point where construction can begin on this segment if additional funding can be secured. A project development and environmental (PD&E) study for a 30-mile segment of SR 30/US 98 from the Pensacola Bay Bridge to Hurlburt Field was initially completed and approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on January 27, 1997 as a Type 2 Categorical Exclusion. A four-mile segment of the original PD&E document was re-evaluated from Bayshore Road to Portside Drive in Santa Rosa County. This re-evaluation addressed design changes and was approved by FHWA on May 16, 2008.