Lately many of our visitors have been asking, “When is the beach road going to be open?” and some of you may be wondering what the beach road is. The beach road is the J. Earle Bowden Way that was the road that used to run much of the length of the Santa Rosa Island from Navarre Beach to the eastern end of Pensacola Beach. The road was a popular scenic drive along the Gulf of Mexico and a favorite spot for cyclists who could bike from Navarre Beach to Pensacola Beach. After a year of repairs, the beach road is starting to come back! This spring visitors will be able to drive from Navarre Beach to Opal Beach on the road. The rest of the road to Pensacola Beach will be worked on this summer. Check out the article below on the beach road progress from the Navarre Press. - Photo by Jim Richardson

Beach Road on Schedule for April Opening
By John Richardson Navarre Press

Cyclists are about the only ones using the beach road these days, and bike riders were out in force Feb. 10. Some may have ridden for the exercise, but there were those who likely wanted to see the progress of the road construction.

Reconstruction of J. Earle Bowden Way, from the eastern end of Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach, began in October 2007. Panhandle Grading & Paving has been removing sand and asphalt from the roadway. Paving operations began in November.The road construction to Opal Beach is scheduled to be completed this spring, and the road to Pensacola Beach is scheduled to be worked on during the summer.

The parking lot, a little over a mile from the fence, has a paved entrance road that is about half completed.The parking spaces have not been created. The road surface is a mix of old asphalt that existed prior to the hurricane and new asphalt that has been patched into places where the old pavement was washed away. The difference between the two surfaces is about an inch.

“I ride this road almost every day,” said Byrum “Bird Man” Gettings. “They call me ‘Bird Man’ because I used to ride this road when the only other living creatures out here were the nesting birds. Some days the workers chase me out of here and I put my bike in low gear and ride in the sand along the sound.”

Gary Agee rode all the way to Portofino.“The road is cleared out all the way through.The construction crews are making good progress. I have no doubt that the road to Opal Beach will be ready in April,” he said.

For the next two miles to Opal Beach, there are large areas that have been completely re-paved where the road was washed out. The surface is a smooth road and great for riding.

Kerry and Jessica Freeland rode to Opal Beach from Pensacola Beach. “I rode through here last June and there were several places where you could not ride,” said Kerry Freeland. “Now the road looks great.”

There are several large construction vehicles parked along the road at Opal Beach. Stopped along the road in front of some of the machines was George Allen from Saratoga, N.Y.

“I vacation down here every year. It broke my heart when I heard they were not going to open this road up. Now it looks great. I am happy to see they are going to open it up again this spring,” he said. Allen was escorting two friends, Ralph and Shirley Arehart from San Diego, Calif., who were biking along the road for the first time.

According to Kenny Necaise of Pensacola, all that had to be done in some places was remove the sand that covered the road. “Now, you could drive a vehicle from one end to the other. All they need is another layer of asphalt and to paint some lines on it,” he said.

Frank Koskie from Gulf Breeze was really impressed with the progress of the road. “There really is no reason this could not have been done a year ago.Why has it taken so long?” he asked.

“This road is a monstrous quality of life issue,” said Tammy Koski.“For us to be able to come out here and ride on this road makes all the difference in our lives.”

The repairs to Opal Beach have not all been completed. The newly-constructed entrance road is almost complete.There is one large parking area that has been paved but not painted. The large chunks of cement that were piled around the buildings are gone. The facility improvements (restrooms and pavilions) within the Opal Beach area will be handled by the National Park Service under a separate contract once the roads are completed.

“One more layer of asphalt should do it,” said Navarre Beach resident Larry Sims. “It will be great to be able to use the road again.”

-Reprinted with permission from the Navarre Press, www.NavarrePress.com