07-03-2025
Bay County officials review designs for Philip Griffitts Sr. Parkway
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Bay County officials held their third public meeting Thursday night on phase three of the Philip Griffitts Senior Parkway. The proposed two-lane roadway would run from North Clara Avenue to Chip Seal Parkway.
It's meant to alleviate traffic congestion on Panama City Beach Parkway. There are three designs for the 5-mile roadway.
The newer design, preferred by Bay County officials and residents, is the furthest from Breakfast Point property lines.
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'The southern darker blue line is closer to the property owner but would guarantee less mitigation credits or a lower cost project. So that's a lower-cost project. The middle line kind of splits the two as an alternative, but the cost for the middle is about the same as the cost for the northern line. So it just makes more sense to go with the north line,' Bay County Chief Infrastructure Officer Keith Bryant said.
But many residents still aren't satisfied.
'I don't think the road adds any value to the county. I don't think it helps in any way. I think if anything, it's a waste of tax money. But the least that I hope to get out of coming here is to explain just how much potential there is for a negative impact on the residents that live in Breakfast Point in particular, and some other neighborhoods,' resident Cameron Matthews said.
Many are concerned about the potential road's proximity to Walsingham Academy and Arnold High School. But, there are other reasons why some are supporting the project.
'We're just going to have to be a little patient, and by doing this project, it will take some of the stress off of Back Beach Road and shift to the people that don't want to go to the beach area, they just wanna get from a to b. And I feel like it's going to take time, but I think its worth it,' resident John Gheesling said.
'This project will help us increase water redundancy for PCB, our service area. So we're going to run a pipe, should this project move forward, we're going to run it under this road and it's going to be great for water redundancy,' Panama City Beach Mayor Stuart Tettemer said.
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The pipe would connect the east and west end of the beach as a backup system for the water supply.
The project is in the second year of Project Development and Environmental, or PD&E, study and design. And they have another 2 years to go.
Bay County expects the beach and FDOT to share the four-million-dollar PD&E and design costs.
Bay County commissioners will consider tonight's feedback when choosing one of the three designs. After PD&E is complete, the county begins buying right of way and finding funds for construction.
The FDOT will complete the final phase, an elevated road above Panama City Beach Parkway that will run from north Clara, west to Nautilus. The price tag for the entire 4-phase project will be about 100 million dollars.
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