I’ve been met with some interesting challenges throughout my 14-year career as an engineer and project manager but none like the one Mother Nature dealt during the SR 390 widening in Panama City, Fla. From unforeseen design hurdles to varying degrees of stakeholder coordination, no two projects are the same. Earlier this year, our SR 390 Widening project in the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) District 3 won an American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC-FL) Outstanding Project Award for how the project aided the community in the recovery after a Category 5 hurricane struck in 2018.
As we enter peak hurricane season in Florida, it’s important to remember our job as engineers is to improve the communities we serve. This dedication can take many forms. It can look like being flexible when working around a client’s needs or regrouping because of weather-related issues. It can also look like clearing out storm debris after a devastating hurricane impacts your project site. I always keep the end user in mind and remember we are not just designing roads for cars to travel on but making other people’s lives more efficient.
Hurricane Michael Causes Disruption
When Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle in October of 2018 as a Category 5 hurricane, the project’s construction was shut down for close to a month. The hurricane destroyed many structures along the corridor, damaged utilities, and toppled numerous trees.
Most of the signage in the construction zone was damaged or missing. In the aftermath, the contractor worked to quickly assure the construction zone was passable. The contractor crews, as well as Construction, Engineering, and Inspection (CEI) staff, took action by helping the community with its debris clean-up and restoration efforts. The project was put on hold for a short time to allow power, debris removal, and communication companies to perform their operations.
Overcoming the Challenge and Meeting Project Goals
The goal of the SR 390 widening project was to widen it from a two-lane undivided roadway to a six-lane divided roadway from Baldwin Road to Jenks Avenue to ease traffic congestion and improve safety. As a popular road for beach travelers, it was important to the client the road be widened to accommodate both current demands and future growth in the area.
The coordination of utility relocations was a major challenge on this project due to the limited right-of-way, maintenance of traffic needs, areas of muck removal, and the installation of large drainage structures. The design team had to accommodate the existing geometry, including turn lanes and bicycle provisions, while providing room for utilities to relocate and construct portions of the proposed roadway. Such a substantial widening called for major utility relocation for DRMP to be able to improve traffic capacity, bike, and pedestrian features as planned.
Our design team applied an innovative solution to decrease our effects on adjacent project areas. By reducing the degree of curvature of two sections of roadway, we strategically decreased the right-of-way requirements for the land and businesses located on the roadway. For the first curve, the update in our designs allowed us to reduce costs, as well as minimize the impact on the adjacent Department of Corrections’ parking lot and the reconstruction of the FDOT Operations office. For the second curve, using our updated designs allowed us to have no impacts to a project-adjacent storage facility and left enough frontage for a revised driveway entrance. This resulted in a more cost-effective solution as part of the right-of-way acquisition process.
The recently completed project has been a great addition to Bay County. The roadside design provides buffering for specific community institutions, entrance enhancements to the FDOT Panama City Operations Facility, and buffers drainage facilities along the corridor. Businesses throughout the corridor have installed enhanced landscape behind the sidewalk. We are eagerly anticipating a landscape project to come soon. SR 390 will receive more than a million dollars in landscape construction. The landscape focuses on aesthetic improvements to the medians and selected roadside locations using bold native species.
I’m proud of the commitment the project team exhibited throughout the lifecycle of the SR 390 Widening project. As the cities of Lynn Haven and Panama City continue to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Michael, it is encouraging to see how the newly constructed SR 390 corridor has aided in that process.
