I-10 to Florida Panhandle Coast Toll Road Proposed

[ElishaGOtis]

According to local newspapers, FDOT is reinstating the proposal for a new toll expressway connecting I-10 to the Panama City metro area. The estimated cost of construction is $2-3 Billion, with opening projected as early as 2035.

I couldn't find any official sources on the matter, but it was mentioned in some articles that FDOT presented this proposal to the Bay County TPO.

https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-news/bay-county/panama-city/fdot-concludes-study-on-proposed-toll-road-connecting-panama-city-to-i-10/

What are y'all's thoughts on this proposal?

[Dirt Roads]

That looks very similar to the toll road that was proposed some 15 years ago between Dothan, Alabama and Panama City.  Assuming that the Preferred Alternative ends up along the FL-77 corridor (like the original proposal), it's about 45 miles from I-10 at Chipley -to- US-98 in downtown Panama City.  (The original proposal was 52 miles from Chipley -to- Panama City, probably avoiding the North Bay crossing).  That's way longer than the not-so-comparable J. Turner Butler Blvd. (FL-202) in Jacksonville (only 13 miles long).  I'd be afraid that the tolls would be so expensive, that most folks would "shunpike" unless they are coming from Montgomery and further north along the I-65 corridor. 

[edwaleni]

I had the same story sent to me via a different source:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2023/08/08/new-toll-road-linking-i-10-and-u-s-98-proposed-in-northwest-florida/70549351007/

[edwaleni]

That looks very similar to the toll road that was proposed some 15 years ago between Dothan, Alabama and Panama City.  Assuming that the Preferred Alternative ends up along the FL-77 corridor (like the original proposal), it's about 45 miles from I-10 at Chipley -to- US-98 in downtown Panama City.  (The original proposal was 52 miles from Chipley -to- Panama City, probably avoiding the North Bay crossing).  That's way longer than the not-so-comparable J. Turner Butler Blvd. (FL-202) in Jacksonville (only 13 miles long).  I'd be afraid that the tolls would be so expensive, that most folks would "shunpike" unless they are coming from Montgomery and further north along the I-65 corridor.

I do think that if Florida built a facility south of Dothan from the state line to somewhere north of Tampa, it would get a serious use by the vacation crowd.

People coming down from the midwest are complaining bitterly about I-75, specifically going around Atlanta and have been looking for alternatives.

I realize Florida is trying to improve hurricane routes off the gulf coast from Destin, Panama City, etc. but a toll road along the gulf coast to meet up with the current one south of Crystal River would be a big help.

[The Ghostbuster]

Is a toll road really needed in this corridor? Maybe they should stick with widening all remaining two-lane segments of FL 77 to four lanes. That might be more effective than constructing a new toll road.

[RoadPelican]

I just looked at a road map of Florida. There are already three routes that are all divided 4 lane highway connecting the Panama City area. US 231, SR 77 and SR 79.

I think the best option is a toll road that goes from Panama City to Tampa (connected with the Suncoast Parkway) with a spur to Tallahassee and another one from the Crystal River/Ocala area to Jacksonville.

Perhaps a spur linking Panama City to I-65 in Alabama could be an idea, but the state of Florida has much bigger holes in their highway network than I-10 to Panama City.

[US 89]

I just looked at a road map of Florida. There are already three routes that are all divided 4 lane highway connecting the Panama City area. US 231, SR 77 and SR 79.

[…]

Perhaps a spur linking Panama City to I-65 in Alabama could be an idea, but the state of Florida has much bigger holes in their highway network than I-10 to Panama City.

Is 77 all four lanes up to I-10 now? I thought there were some 2-lane segments north of SR 20.

As someone who lives in Tallahassee and just went to Panama City a few weeks ago (on a weekend no less), my opinion is that this Panama City toll road idea is silly. The existing four-lane connections are fine. No reason to allow even more vehicles to dump into an area that is already quite congested. Traffic in Panama City and PCB itself is far worse than anything on any of the roads into the area and I don’t see that ever getting better.

I think the best option is a toll road that goes from Panama City to Tampa (connected with the Suncoast Parkway) with a spur to Tallahassee and another one from the Crystal River/Ocala area to Jacksonville.

The Suncoast Parkway could maybe use an extension up to Inglis or so but I just can’t see a need for any big ticket toll roads in that area. As it is, from Tallahassee it is actually faster to go to Tampa via US 27/19/Suncoast than I-10/75. That route is all four lanes and US 19 is pretty much empty north of Citrus County. I’ve never seen any major issues on I-10 across Florida, either. 10 might need a third lane east of I-75 for the busiest of times but there’s nothing about either of those two corridors to me that suggests a parallel toll road is needed or worthwhile.

If anything, I’d like to see a widening of some kind for either US 98 and 319 and/or SR 20 from Panama City to Tallahassee, where you can hop on the already four-lane US 27. At minimum US 319 should be all four lanes from US 98 to Tallahassee, which is being worked on in some areas but getting that done through Crawfordville is going to be tricky.

[Finrod]

Seems like US 231 is finally getting needed upgrades in multiple places.  The route chosen for the new expressway in SW Indiana between I-64 and I-69 was chosen to largely follow US 231 there.

[Rothman]

Dothan's seen better days.

[US 89]

Dothan's seen better days.

And despite that, it always seems to have a wildly disproportionate amount of traffic on all of its highways. AL 210 is horrible in that respect.

[MikeTheActuary]

Dothan's seen better days.

Dothan hasn't gotten worse over the past 30 years, at least.

The area has actually seen growth thanks to people retiring to the area, attracted by the low cost of living, and the resources available to veterans due to the proximity of the base formerly known as "Mother Rucker".

[Rothman]

Dothan's seen better days.

Dothan hasn't gotten worse over the past 30 years, at least.

The area has actually seen growth thanks to people retiring to the area, attracted by the low cost of living, and the resources available to veterans due to the proximity of the base formerly known as "Mother Rucker".

Looked pretty beat up when I was there a couple of years ago.

[NE2]

Dothan's seen better days.

Dothan hasn't gotten worse over the past 30 years, at least.

The area has actually seen growth thanks to people retiring to the area, attracted by the low cost of living, and the resources available to veterans due to the proximity of the base formerly known as "Mother Rucker".

Looked pretty beat up when I was there a couple of years ago.

Had you been there previously and saw it better than a couple years ago?

[MikeTheActuary]

Dothan's seen better days.

Dothan hasn't gotten worse over the past 30 years, at least.

The area has actually seen growth thanks to people retiring to the area, attracted by the low cost of living, and the resources available to veterans due to the proximity of the base formerly known as "Mother Rucker".

Looked pretty beat up when I was there a couple of years ago.

It's been that way for decades. 

Admittedly, reconstruction of the Circle is a more recent, and annoying thing....but if you know the area you avoided the Circle even before it was torn up.

[edwaleni]

FWIW: ALDOT has had hearings on a interstate grade highway from Montgomery to the FL/AL border.  FDOT has tried a few times to tie in whatever they do with a border to beaches expressway.

The issue is always the same, Enterprise AL wants it to go by Fort Rucker. Dothan wants it to go by them and relieve traffic off their circle.

No agreement, no highway.

ALDOT wanted to tie it with the new Montgomery Bypass (AL-108) which would become the new I-85 and the route in the city would be I-185.

Right now ALDOT can't even get I-22 finished to the Decatur Highway (US-31) in Birmingham, so anything above and beyond that may be a reach.

As it stands, AL-108 is a super 4 lane 2 mile extended ramp to AL-110 and will probably stay that way until Enterprise and Dothan can settle their differences.

As I noted earlier, a lot of travelers from the Great Lakes would like to come down I-65 via Nashville and on to Florida. (Yes, few know that US-231 is a 4 lane affair in between).

Avoid Atlanta and reach I-75 in one trip. Perhaps FDOT should just "build it" where they think it should go and end it at the FL/AL border and decide for them. 

[Henry]

FWIW: ALDOT has had hearings on a interstate grade highway from Montgomery to the FL/AL border.  FDOT has tried a few times to tie in whatever they do with a border to beaches expressway.

The issue is always the same, Enterprise AL wants it to go by Fort Rucker. Dothan wants it to go by them and relieve traffic off their circle.

No agreement, no highway.

ALDOT wanted to tie it with the new Montgomery Bypass (AL-108) which would become the new I-85 and the route in the city would be I-185.

Right now ALDOT can't even get I-22 finished to the Decatur Highway (US-31) in Birmingham, so anything above and beyond that may be a reach.

As it stands, AL-108 is a super 4 lane 2 mile extended ramp to AL-110 and will probably stay that way until Enterprise and Dothan can settle their differences.

As I noted earlier, a lot of travelers from the Great Lakes would like to come down I-65 via Nashville and on to Florida. (Yes, few know that US-231 is a 4 lane affair in between).

Avoid Atlanta and reach I-75 in one trip. Perhaps FDOT should just "build it" where they think it should go and end it at the FL/AL border and decide for them. 

Eh, this would work better as I-67. In fact, this corridor has been proposed as such in the past. At a shade over 180 miles, it would be a better fit than I-185, but then again, the designation would only apply to Montgomery only. Also, the number should've been I-385 or something else to prevent confusion with the connector to Columbus and Ft. Benning.

[jdb1234]

Dothan's seen better days.

Dothan hasn't gotten worse over the past 30 years, at least.

The area has actually seen growth thanks to people retiring to the area, attracted by the low cost of living, and the resources available to veterans due to the proximity of the base formerly known as "Mother Rucker".

Looked pretty beat up when I was there a couple of years ago.

It's been that way for decades. 

Admittedly, reconstruction of the Circle is a more recent, and annoying thing....but if you know the area you avoided the Circle even before it was torn up.

Personally, having driven US 231 between Montgomery and I-10 many times over the years, Troy is worse than Dothan.  I know my way around Dothan and usually avoid the worst part of the circle.

FWIW: ALDOT has had hearings on a interstate grade highway from Montgomery to the FL/AL border.  FDOT has tried a few times to tie in whatever they do with a border to beaches expressway.

The issue is always the same, Enterprise AL wants it to go by Fort Rucker. Dothan wants it to go by them and relieve traffic off their circle.

No agreement, no highway.

ALDOT wanted to tie it with the new Montgomery Bypass (AL-108) which would become the new I-85 and the route in the city would be I-185.

As it stands, AL-108 is a super 4 lane 2 mile extended ramp to AL-110 and will probably stay that way until Enterprise and Dothan can settle their differences.

Unless something has changed, the plan was to reroute I-85 onto AL 108 and the stretch into Montgomery would be I-685.

As far as I know, there is no funding to finish AL 108.  Toll proposals have been floated over the years.  Last I saw, the plan was to end AL 108 at I-65.

[ElishaGOtis]

I have started a new thread in Fictional to discuss your ideas about how to plan the proposed expressway. How would YOU plan that area? Feel free to give your input! 

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33646.0

[ElishaGOtis]

I have found this article on PNJ that shows a map of the proposed corridors (may be behind paywall for some users).

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2023/08/08/northwest-florida-toll-road-panama-city-us-98-interstate-10/70554977007/

It appears that the corridor would be designed to serve traffic coming from the rest of Florida connecting to Panama City, similar to the original proposal for I-10 that would bring it closer to the coast. This would not necessarily be a north-south connector as US-231, SR-77, and SR-79 already do that to an extent. Two of the proposed alternatives show an interchange with I-10 near CR-286 at Sneads, and one shows the interchange near SR-69 at Grand Ridge / Marianna.

[The Ghostbuster]

I have a feeling that these toll road proposals will never be constructed. Of course, I could be wrong, but I think they should confine constructing toll roads to more populated areas in the state of Florida.

[ChiMilNet]

Having recently moved to Florida and looking at it from a more larger regional perspective, I do see the utility for this IF it were to be connected to a toll road in AL that connects to I-65 somewhere a little South of Montgomery (anything to help the mess on the combination of I-24/I-75 South of Nashville). As far as a connection to the SunCoast Parkway, I simply cannot see this happening from Panama City. There is a National Forest in the way, and the distance would make it not practical. Maybe something connecting from Tallahassee, in the long term future, might make sense. I realize I am getting into fictional territory here, though. If anything, add a lane each way to I-10 across the states, though, if you want to handle traffic bound for Tampa and points East and South from the Panhandle.

[edwaleni]

I have found this article on PNJ that shows a map of the proposed corridors (may be behind paywall for some users).

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2023/08/08/northwest-florida-toll-road-panama-city-us-98-interstate-10/70554977007/

It appears that the corridor would be designed to serve traffic coming from the rest of Florida connecting to Panama City, similar to the original proposal for I-10 that would bring it closer to the coast. This would not necessarily be a north-south connector as US-231, SR-77, and SR-79 already do that to an extent. Two of the proposed alternatives show an interchange with I-10 near CR-286 at Sneads, and one shows the interchange near SR-69 at Grand Ridge / Marianna.

[ElishaGOtis]

I have found this article on PNJ that shows a map of the proposed corridors (may be behind paywall for some users).

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2023/08/08/northwest-florida-toll-road-panama-city-us-98-interstate-10/70554977007/

It appears that the corridor would be designed to serve traffic coming from the rest of Florida connecting to Panama City, similar to the original proposal for I-10 that would bring it closer to the coast. This would not necessarily be a north-south connector as US-231, SR-77, and SR-79 already do that to an extent. Two of the proposed alternatives show an interchange with I-10 near CR-286 at Sneads, and one shows the interchange near SR-69 at Grand Ridge / Marianna.

After looking at the map closer, it appears that the Gulf Coast Parkway (currently under construction) forms the initial basis for the new expressway.

Thanks for embedding this!

[Jaxrunner]

I think connecting Panama City FL with Tallahassee those the rest of the state is a great idea. Currently when coming from Tallahassee on I 10 I take exit 174 SR 12 to Bristol. Then SR 20 to US 231. These two lanes roads get obnoxious as they don't really have passing lanes. I would like to see the toll road built over this route. I would like the road to fork once it gets into Bay County. The left fork can connect to Panama City and Tyndall AFB. The right fork can go west by Northwest Florida Airport and connect to Panama City Beach and  30A.

[US 89]

As far as a connection to the SunCoast Parkway, I simply cannot see this happening from Panama City. There is a National Forest in the way, and the distance would make it not practical. Maybe something connecting from Tallahassee, in the long term future, might make sense.

If the length of US 27 and US 19 from Tallahassee to Tampa were a congested corridor, I could see this making sense. But it simply is not. Even long term I don't see there being enough growth in the Panhandle or along this corridor to justify this kind of project anywhere north of Citrus County.

Agreed that I would like to see a better connection from Tallahassee to Panama City, having made this drive multiple times. But I think this kind of money would be far better spent four-laning or at least adding passing lanes to a lot of those two-lane roads. Especially SR 20, but also US 98/319, SR 22, and SR 71 could see some benefit.