Traffic and infrastructure during peak season

[GoodWitch58]

which days it will rain during this tourist season?

what contingency plans are in place for handling the increased traffic of tourists in rental cars from the new airport on those rainy days?

what happens if there is an emergency in a vehicle that is stranded in the hours long gridlock of Highway 98; for example, if I have someone in the car with me and they have a medical emergency and I dial 911--is there any way humanly possible to get to my car in traffic such as we witnessed last Thursday?

Has the evacuation plan/staggered check out times at rentals/the education about any possible alternative route/traffic cops directly traffic at 331 on Saturday mornings been looked at by the powers that be?

Is anyone else concerned about this?

 

[miznotebook]

Good questions, and we should be concerned.
This is not necessarily an endorsement, but a new road connecting U.S. 98 in SoWal directly with the new airport is in the planning process. There is information on it on the Web site www.westbayparkway.com. It should be noted that this would likely be a toll road.

 

[GoodWitch58]

and certainly not finished in time for this summer's mad rush (after May 23)--

my concern is: is anyone in a position of leadership/authority giving any thought to some interim measures that would minimize the problems this summer?

it seems counter-intuitive to me that we would spend billions of dollars on marketing for tourism; a new airport; new airline, etc., and not give some thought to the lack of effective infrastructure to move these tourists around once they get here.

Surely there are some measures that can be taken in the interim.

 

[miznotebook]

Good points. Just a thought, it would not take nearly as long to get a trolley route set up to and from the airport, get some trolley service going on 30A as has been proposed, and encourage tourists to get around that way. That would cut down on some automobile traffic.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Just an observation - even though every road near sand and water between Destin and Panama City was gridlocked last week, I was up 331 and 83 to Glendale and back Friday evening and again yesterday afternoon, after posting ShallowsFuzz with binoculars watching the bridge in case we needed to plan an alternate route - and although traffic was steady and would back up a little when behind a slower vehicle, I didn't see the absolute backup on 331 that I expected.

Did they leave when I wasn't looking? Did they take an alternate route? Or did I just miss it altogether? I don't think they are still here, as ShallowsSquirt reports a slow evening at work.

Not saying that we don't need to plan for these things - I had to take an alternate route to Tallahassee on Labor Day last year after finding 331 backed up to Doodle's Forest...:roll:

 

[GoodWitch58]

I think many people must have left on Friday...I noticed the difference too; and I had expected 331 to be more of a problem than it was on Saturday am

Still, we know it is coming--and if the predictions are correct about the airport, then, we'll have even more people, and many of them driving unfamiliar rental cars.

 

[NotDeadYet]

That's right goodwitch, about half of them left Friday. There was still a backup on 30A in Seagrove saturday morning, but not as bad as it would have been if everyone had stayed until then. If summertime occupancy is as high as it was this last week, it's hard to see how we will get through the season without addressing some of these issues. Maybe when the backlash comes, as in "don't go there anymore, it's too crowded now," we will get some plans put in place.

I had a casual conversation with two locals a little while ago, both of whom earn their living from tourism, and both of whom thought last week was just too much, way too stressful.

 

[GoodWitch58]

NDY, I can't imagine why anyone would come here a second time for spring break or summer vacation if they were subjected to the gridlock of last Thursday...hey, maybe that is why so many left Friday instead of staying through to the normal Saturday check-out...

 

[Minnie]

NDY, I can't imagine why anyone would come here a second time for spring break or summer vacation if they were subjected to the gridlock of last Thursday...hey, maybe that is why so many left Friday instead of staying through to the normal Saturday check-out...

Because most deal with massive gridlocks on 6 lanes of traffic that does not move but inches for hours each day every day.

Gridlock on 30-A would be like paradise to them with a spectacular view.

 

[BeachbumAggie]

are there that many more people this year than usual? I first went to Sandestin 23 years ago and it got too crowded so we moved on to Seagrove 5-6 years ago to avoid the crowds and then fell in love with 30A. Please tell me the SoWal traffic isn't like the horror of Destin traffic! We were there starting Memorial Day weekend for 2 weeks last year and I didn't find the traffic much worse than usual.