By Ed Offley
When finished in five years, the next phase of the Philip Griffitts Parkway will alleviate severe traffic congestion on US 98 but will be unconnected to the existing 3.8-mile roadway connecting SR 79 and Nautilus Street since 2021, officials say.
Instead, a proposed 5.1-mile link connecting Clara Avenue North and Chip Seal Parkway at the Publix Sports Complex is under planning and development, according to Project Manager Vincent Spahr. An ongoing Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study will determine alternative routes for the roadway as it passes north of J.R. Arnold High School, Breakfast Point Academy and the Breakfast Point residential community.
Officials for now have decided not to extend the parkway from its eastern end at Nautilus Street through the highly developed Legacy Golf Club and Colony Club neighborhood, which runs north from US 98 all the way to West Bay. That 1.1-mile stretch will be handled as a separate development phase.
Phase 3 will still offer motorists traveling east- or westbound an alternative to the highly congested stretch of US 98 as it crosses Alf Coleman Road and Richard Jackson Parkway. The project, Spahr said, “is intended to improve regional connectivity in the area and relieve some of the congestion on U.S. 98 (Panama City Beach Parkway) and improve safety outcomes in the area.”
A public alternatives meeting for the Phase 3 project has been set for Thursday, March 6 at Grace Episcopal Church, 9101 Panama City Beach Parkway, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Interested members of the public can obtain background information on Phase 3 of the parkway at https://philipgriffittsparkway.com.
No firm cost estimate or construction commencement timetable has been announced, but an accompanying traffic analysis report identified 2030 as the projected opening date for the parkway segment. Construction costs for Phases 1 and 2 totaled $19 million, including a public-private partnership between Panama City Beach, Bay County, the Florida Department of Transportation and the St. Joe Co., which owns most of the right-of-way.
A formal public hearing on the project will be held in the fall of 2025, with completion of the PD&E Study and the final design of the connector revealed in early 2027.
In addition to highlighting three alternative parkway routes as it passes north of the two schools and Breakfast Point, the study will explore the possible need for sound-reduction walls; plans to minimize damage to wetlands, and mitigating drainage and flooding issues. As currently designed, the project will also require major intersection improvements and additional turn lanes on US 98 at Clara Avenue, Alf Coleman Road and Chip Seal/Cauley Avenue.
The project datasheet indicates that the parkway design will include a buffer zone about 100 feet to either side of the roadway showing a traffic noise level on the edge at 60 decibels. This is equivalent to the noise level of normal speech at three feet away.
Bay County officials for more than a decade have eyed the ongoing parkway as an alternative to the heavily traveled Panama City Beach Parkway/US 98, which itself is undergoing a multi-year expansion from four to six lanes. A Panama City Beach comprehensive utility map depicting current and future land development projects suggests the county in future years hopes to extend the parkway from its western terminus at SR 79 to US 98 in southern Walton County.
