Freeport Council Presses FDOT on SR 20 Turn Lanes, Advances Budget and City Projects
The Freeport City Council used its August 11 regular meeting to press the Florida Department of Transportation for answers on long-delayed turn lane improvements along State Road 20, advancing a city-funded workaround for the Jackson Street intersection while expressing deep frustration with the pace of state road projects in Walton County. Council members also set the tentative mill rate, scheduled the next budget workshop, approved insurance changes, and greenlit several infrastructure and recreation items.
The meeting opened with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before council moved quickly through the consent agenda, which included city bills, budget workshop minutes from July 14, regular council meeting minutes from July 23, and budget workshop minutes from August 3. The council approved the consent agenda unanimously, with Councilwoman Hafner, Councilman Ferris, and Councilwoman Brown all voting in favor. One item was deleted from the agenda under council business, also approved unanimously.
The centerpiece of the meeting was an extended presentation from Jordan Bernett of Alliant Engineering, who appeared before the council wearing his hat as project manager for the Florida Department of Transportation’s SR 20 resurfacing project. Bernett explained that the project, designated FPID 43150-1, covers roughly 11 to 12 miles of State Road 20 from Business 331 to State Road 81 in Walton County and carries an estimated cost of about $11 million. The project is currently in the plans-processing phase, with a letting date scheduled for December 2, 2026, meaning the state will begin accepting contractor bids at that time. Bernett noted the project includes a second northbound left turn lane on US 331, widening of SR 20 west of 331 for a receiving lane, a westbound left turn lane at Black Creek Boulevard, and an eastbound left turn lane at Windswept Boulevard — improvements that were incorporated after traffic studies supported them.
The council’s turn lane requests, however, ran into complications. Bernett explained that the city had requested an eastbound left turn lane at Blueberry Road, but that location sits outside the resurfacing project limits and currently has no traffic operations study, which FDOT requires before any turn lane can be funded or constructed. The request for left turn lanes at North and South Jackson Street faced a different hurdle: a traffic study, which Bernett said dated to 2018, determined that eastbound and westbound left turn lanes and a westbound right turn lane were all warranted at the intersection. But the misalignment of North and South Jackson — South Jackson ties in west of North Jackson — means left turn lanes would create opposing conflict points in the center of the roadway. A two-way left turn lane was rejected as unsafe, and realigning the two streets would require right-of-way acquisition and wetlands mitigation that a 3R resurfacing project cannot undertake.
Councilwoman Brown made clear the public’s frustration, noting that 37,000 cars a month travel through the corridor and that residents are sometimes gridlocked trying to reach the grocery store. “We don’t have a choice,” she said. “Our town is completely locked down. Every weekend, we have people that can’t leave their house to go to the grocery store.” She said the council has already budgeted roughly $750,000 per turn lane and is willing to spend city money on a state-owned highway because DOT has not delivered help. “I don’t feel like DOT cares anything about this city, quite honestly,” Brown added.
Councilman Ferris echoed that frustration, pointing to years of unfulfilled DOT promises on widening SR 20. “For years and years, DOT would keep saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to lane. We’re going to do this. We’re going to do that.’ You never see it,” Ferris said. He questioned why South and Central Florida see constant construction while Walton County is left waiting, noting that Walton County has only one and a half percent of the representation on the Transportation Planning Organization. Bernett responded by walking through the funding and design timeline, explaining that the widening project (FPID 220635-8) from East Bay Loop to east of US 331 is in design but is not funded for construction or right-of-way. He acknowledged the frustration but said the process of design, environmental review, right-of-way acquisition, and construction funding simply takes time.
Bernett did offer a path forward for the city. He explained that if Freeport hires its own engineer, completes a traffic study for Blueberry Road, and designs turn lane plans that receive FDOT approval, the city could negotiate directly with the resurfacing project’s contractor to build the improvements — potentially at reduced cost since mobilization expenses would already be covered. A left turn lane built within the state project costs roughly $872,000, Bernett said, and the city could see savings by piggybacking on the existing contract. He cautioned that the resurfacing project has an approximately 400-day construction duration and that once a contractor takes over the roadway, scheduling a separate contractor becomes complicated.
The city’s consulting engineer, Cliff Nard, then presented a preliminary alignment concept for realigning North and South Jackson Street to eliminate the conflict-point problem. Nard said he had reviewed the survey shared by Bernett and developed a concept that shifts the intersection to create perpendicular alignment. He reported that the Northwest Florida Water Management District agreed the project could proceed under a municipal retrofit exemption, meaning the city would not need to go through the full environmental permitting process as long as it demonstrates a net improvement in stormwater treatment. The old roadbed on South Jackson would be graded down to wetland elevation and allowed to revert to wetlands, while the east side of North Jackson would reclaim area that more than offsets the small portion of a clinic’s stormwater pond that would be affected.
The key challenge Nard identified is that the realignment clips the corner of the Reese family property on North Jackson — the same family the city is already working with on the Marquee Way road project. Nard urged the council to authorize survey work immediately so the city can identify exactly what right-of-way it needs from the Reese family, suggesting it could be added to the work already underway for Marquee Way. He recommended the city set up a meeting with Tim Smith and Don McKe of FDOT’s traffic operations office to get buy-in before spending money on design, and he suggested adding the Jackson Street project to the city’s Capital Improvement Project list and its annual Small County Outreach Program funding request to DOT.
Council directed City Manager Mark to get surveys ordered, with the understanding that the council would ratify any expenditures that exceed the manager’s authority. Nard cautioned that getting right-of-way acquired, traffic studies completed, and plans approved before the resurfacing contractor begins work in January was unlikely, but said the project could potentially be built as a separate contract after the resurfacing is complete.
Following the engineering discussion, the council moved through a series of budget and administrative items. Members voted to set the third budget workshop for August 18 at 5 p.m. — noting that date is also election day — and ratified moving the initial budget hearing to September 9 at 5 p.m. The council set the tentative mill rate at 4.7302, approved switching the city’s disability insurance to a new provider, and voted to stay with Blue Cross Blue Shield for medical coverage after receiving a rate break.
In other business, the council approved a $45 expenditure for fall softball through Parks and Recreation, authorized a $18,600 contract with Green Air for air conditioning units at the sewer motor control center from among three bids, and approved an estimated $15,000 in-house renovation of the utility building department. The council also voted to purchase 300 feet of water line pipe for $8,885 and awarded the installation contract to Walton Construction for $12,500.
Councilman Ferris closed the meeting by appointing Trinity Abinet to represent him on the city’s planning board, noting he has known the family for many years and asking that she meet with city staff to be briefed on her responsibilities. The council named Philip Bo Fish as employee of the month for July, recognizing his dedication, passion, and hard work for city residents. The award was accepted on his behalf by his supervisor, Mr. Red, as Bo Fish was unable to attend.
