U.S. 98 to be widened near Hathaway Bridge
Work set to begin in July, FDOT official says
PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Commission got a welcome surprise this week.
City officials were planning to ask Florida's Department of Transportation for changes to U.S. 98 near the Hathaway Bridge with the goal of easing congestion. City officials found out the department already was planning the work.
"We found that out yesterday," Assistant City Manager Jeff Brown said Tuesday.
Right now, traffic funnels down from three lanes on the bridge to two on U.S. 98 and bottles up at the Moody Avenue and 23rd Street intersections, FDOT spokesman Tommie Speights said. The work, which will begin in July, Speights said, will add a third eastbound lane and a turn lane from the bridge to Moody Avenue.
"The main idea behind that is to improve safety and ease congestion," Speights said.
You can set your watch to the daily congestion, said Karon Conrad, the daytime manager of the No Name Lounge on U.S. 98.
"It gets busy and backed up all the time," Conrad said. But "you can count on it at 3 p.m."
Workers are leaving Naval Support Activity-Panama City at that time, she added.
Speights called the work a temporary solution. Long-term plans still call for a complete flyover from Hathaway Bridge to 23rd Street. The planning phase on the flyover is nearing completion, but the state's five-year budget plan has no money set aside for the work, Speights said.
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