Hwy 331 may soon become, "The Beach Highway"

Hwy 331 may soon become, the "Beach Highway" (at least that is how it is drafted)

At tonight's County Commissioners Meeting, they will be voting on whether or not to rename Hwy 331, from Alabama to Hwy 98, the "Beach Highway." The City of Paxton has already requested the change to the "Beach Highway." (This would apply to unincorporated areas only, unless Freeport, Paxton and Defuniak Springs want to change the name, too). Alabama's Crenshaw County Commission has already approved of the change for hwy 331 in their stretch.

Interestingly, there is one other submission to the Walton County Commission, which doesn't state the city name, nor state on the document, but is signed by H D Edgar, Mayor. The interesting part is the word, "THE." The letter recognizes Hwy 331 name change as:

(in quotes): "THE Beach Highway" (and "THE" is capitalized and within the quotes. )

Remember the group wanting to change the name of NW FL to "THE Beach?" I wonder if this will be slipped into the other changes as well. What will the other Counties think if Walton County is designated as having "THE Beach Highway," since they are planning on spending much money to brand NorthWest Florida as "THE Beach." Just wondering.

 

do you suppose they'll want to paint it orange as well

 

The document from Opp, AL, mentioned above, was a faxed copy, and the scanned image of the fax appears to be black font, but who knows, maybe in the Mayor's Office in Opp, "THE" is orange.

 

whats the point, i mean really? no matter what you call it, its the main route to the beach and has been forever. is by changing the name at this point going to bring about more dollars to the area? i dont think so. bay county voted to change beckridge road's name. other than recognizing someone that may very well deserve recognition, is this the time to tell business owners during the current market to change all their stationary to read the new address? i dont think so. its an expense i dont think many can absorb right about now. its another example on government having their interests in all the wrong places.

 

I can see "nicknaming" 331 "the beach highway" for fun and promotional purposes, but IMO we don't need to be wasting the money to:

1) rename it THE or add the color orange so some group of consultants who couldn't find THEIR arses w/ both orange hands can siphon off gov't funds and continue to piss me off w/ their idiocy

2) reprint all maps, signs, anything w/ an address on it, update everything

 

seriously, I would prefer to see the "powers that be" focus on things that truly impact the beach experience for both the permanent resident and the visitor.

I don't believe either the name change or the marketing program to "brand" the area as The Beach will really make that much difference.

OTOH, the issues of:

private vs. public; lifeguards,flags and safety; turtle lighting; four-laning roads; proper intersection traffic signals; abandoned housing developments; abandoned property on the beach; noise ordinances; signage; recycling program; lack of economic development programs; need for more year-round jobs; unpaved roads; wetlands filled in; property clear-cut; open hit and run cases; the list is endless, and I didn't even think about it!

These are the things that affect the quality of our life here, and the experience of a visitor...much better to focus on positive, inclusive solutions to these and then the number of "heads in beds" will take care of itself. The TDC has done a great job over the years bringing in visitors with the BOSW tag and logo. I see no reason to change or impose another logo over that...

A community attracts people if it is welcoming, clean, and safe and if it provides both jobs and activities for its residents and visitors. We are fortunate to have the added benefit of our wonderful beach and unique environment. If we maintained what we naturally have and enhanced it in a positive, sustainable way, we would be fine. I see no harm in naming 331 the beach highway, but I agree that no dollars should be spent to change signage and maps, etc.

I am pretty sure none of us ever made a vacation decision based on the name of the road we needed to take to get to the destination.



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Maybe they'll get sued for false advertising. Not sure about anyone else, but I must be missing the part where 331 dead ends into a beach.

 

Maybe they can paint these down the centerline.

 

Good point. Maybe they should call it "THE Tom Thumb Highway."

 

I don't know. I read about this couple who took their restored TBird on Route 66. I thought it was pretty exciting!

 

Name change

In my opinion, it will just confuse people. In Okaloosa County, the road on the North side of the Midbay bridge is White Point Road, and on the South side it is Danny Wuerful Way! That still confuses people! I'm sure if you Mapquest Rt 331..it won't come up as THE Beach Highway! People want to take the shortest, fastest route, don't care about the names!

 

OMG! How true - it doesn't actually GO to a beach! :rofl:

 

Maybe it should be THE 98 Highway Highway since thats where it ends....until THE Beach road is actually added

I would be for it if THE Beach pays for every aspect of the signage etc costs. (google maps gps lol)
Private companies pay to name stadiums..... a pretty penny too
Charge them the same kinda rate.
So that will also mean only one road into and out of the beach then
if its THE Beach road.
Some bright tourists will re-route thinking its the ONLY road in haha

can always add an "it" in there since driving on it is a real "bea(it)ch

 

Now, that would be exciting...especially the restored TBird!

 

I love branding, it's so.....substantial and meaningful.

I noticed that Brannon also wants to find out what we can get the 40 acres next to Morrison Springs for.....has anyone told the BCC yet that that they are supposed to be economizing?

 

I wonder if the push to name 331 THE Beach Highway is all tied up with the Walton Chamber of Commerce's push for a public/private venture to build a new bridge at 331. I will never, ever understand why people are so anxious to replace a working free public bridge with a toll bridge, when it is a disproportionate burden to the local citizens, not the tourists. Would the private backers stand to make huge profits or something?

The other thing that strikes me is that we should probably be spending less money on signs and branding freaking public highways, because increasingly GPS is going to be determining the routes people take and bridges they use -- and I think more people will use a different route because they click yes and choose to avoid toll roads when possible on their Tom Tom than reroute from the fastest route because they want to drive on a highway that's named Beach.

I wish people would start being a little more progressive in their thinking of ways to attract tourists and improve their experiences. How about added GPS content, providing updates of routes on the user generated updates...my Tom Tom is still insisting I turn left at 20 and 331, and then wigging out because it thinks I'm driving through a field when I go straight.

 

Good connection, rapunzel. I do believe that one of the founding members of Vision 3000's "THE Beach" was Jay Odum, one of the guys who also offered to privatize 331 bridge over the Bay, making it a toll road.

 

Good points all. Guess we can expect Odom and his gang to rename Highway 20 as Alternate THE Beach Road or Back THE Beach Road next. It would also be a short cut to the renamed OW-TB College (On the Way to THE Beach). Odom and Richburg could continue to conspire doing all sorts of renaming and special projects.

 

From North West Florida Transportation Corridor Authority (NFTCA.com):


Mr. Jay A. Odom - Okaloosa County - Vice Chairman
Jay A. Odom was appointed to the board in September 2005 by Governor Jeb Bush and represents Okaloosa County. Jay is a real estate developer from Destin, Florida ... Jay grew up in Okaloosa County, and maintained a vision of providing quality development for the residents of the Panhandle. He remains dedicated to community projects that enhance the quality of life for all along Florida's beautiful Emerald Coast.


Jay is committed to giving back to his community, and has sponsored many projects for community enhancement and support of the people in our communities, including those who are less fortunate, students and their educators, and our men and women in the Armed Forces. His main focus is on projects and charities that help children.
To email Mr. Odom, click here.


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The above quote is just in case you didn't know who was in the seat of the Vice Chairman of the NWFTCA. If you don't know about the NWFTCA, you can go to the link above and learn all about the planned major highway developments in NW Florida.

DuneLaker, I doubt you will see Hwy 20 renamed, but you might expect the planned parallel road, running adjacent to hwy 20, to be named something like "THE Beach Airport Express Highway."