Ahead of the upcoming open house event for the Brooks Bridge replacement project in Fort Walton Beach, the Florida Department of Transportation has released new renderings and maps of the new bridge.
The $171-million replacement project includes constructing two new parallel bridges over the Santa Rosa Sound in Okaloosa County. The bridge will have an increased capacity of six travel lanes versus the current four-lane bridge that opened in 1966. Additional Improvements:
- New sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and Twelve-foot shared-use paths to aid bicycle and pedestrian safety.
- Reconstructing adjacent intersections to improve traffic flow.
- Stormwater enhancements for better drainage and to reduce the potential for flooding.
- Traffic signal and intelligent transportation system (ITS) upgrades to improve safety and mobility.
- Increasing the navigational channel vertical clearance (from 50 to 65 feet) and the horizontal
- clearance (from 140 to 150 feet) to better accommodate marine traffic.
Preliminary construction activities are now underway with project completion estimated for mid-2027.
Click on each image to enlarge.
26 Responses
Beautiful. Can’t wait to see it in reality.
I still think there will be traffic jams with the traffic lights going eastbound. Not much relief for the locals.
Looks good, no traffic lights on the island side and the roundabout good job
Agree!
Look again, there are 2 sets of lights on the island side that will still back traffic up. The already existing intersection at the convention center and Gulfarium. But before that, there is a light that will stop eastbound traffic on 98 for cars going westbound to get to SRB and hotels, and to exit there to get on 98 eastbound. So no, there will still be lights backing up traffic at both ends of the bridge lol
I agree. The jams have always been bad at that intersection and I do not see that it is being addressed at all.
Sure it is- a huge issue was the Santa Rosa Blvd Light at the foot of the bridge- that’s been eliminated, and traffic should flow a lot better
Whats the height of the new Bridge? Sailor
65′
Good to see real bike and walking paths off roadway! With mixed usage I hope there will be lanes marked to separate bikes and pedestrians
Specs require 65′ vertical clearance.
I would be nice if we could use golf carts to cross the bridge.
The last thing we need are golf carts in the mix-keep them where they belong please
Looks like this will be very nice! Quite a change for both areas.
I hope they can stop all the begging on the corner, not a good look for a new project , help the homeless, or they will , still be dying under the new bridge!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TOO HELP?
love it!! The lights on the island seem to be perfectly placed for entrance to hotels as well as Santa Rosa Blvd. (I DO hope there are TWO turning lanes though because it WILL be a very congested area).
Pretty and beautiful are not important, functional processes of moving 4 lanes to 3 and back to two is what is important
Also 5 years construction is awful no real planning
Too rapid reduction in traffic lanes is going to continue to cause problems. You will just have even more cars backed up on the bridge. Need 2 turn lanes onto double lanes for any relief.
Adding better turn lanes in town close to the bridge will help too.
Extend the E-W green light go- times.
Yesss I agree with the extending green light go times . Those lights are the problem
Unfortunately we will still deal with a backed Marler Bridge going into Destin
It’s gonna take another 8 years to get half way
This should be funny to watch,and a cluster when done if it ever gets done.remember folks,this a Okaloosa couny,the good Ole boy pocket filling ,hands outstreacehed,feet draging ,fake inspections county.
oh no, I am not seeing any parking added back for the NFB school. We are already experiencing difficulty since the parking lot has been torn up across the street and this is used for backflow for downtown businesses as well. The large grass lot under bridge is pretty but not functional for a very busy and compact downtown area. Please add school parking back.
When will they expand the highway leading to the bridge to 6 lanes? Until that is accomplished, I don’t see much improvement in traffic flow.
Why is there a light going east bound before the Gulfarium light? It’s unnecessary and will back up traffic. Cars going Westbound on 98 should exit to the North to get to SRB. Cars entering from SRB going East should have a merge lane so no traffic light is needed.