Airport Road: Still some work to be done

Workers at Destin’s Airport Road/U.S. 98 intersection didn’t expect to find a buried liquid propane tank lying in the path of construction Wednesday.

“That was a real big surprise,” Deputy City Manager John Paton told The Log. “It was empty — the fire department came out and verified it had been left there years ago.”

Despite such distractions, Paton said the four-laning of Airport — with medians, improved stormwater drains and pedestrian/bike paths running along the road — is on track for “substantial completion” by the Memorial Day weekend, but some work remains to be done, especially at the east end of the road:

•Laying asphalt along Airport Road.

•Installing and landscaping all the medians.

•Coping with unexpected surprises such as the propane tank and other obstacles.

“They’ve run into some issues they did not foresee with the infrastructure in the right of way at Airport and 98,” Paton said. Because of that, “work will continue from Indian Bayou Trail to 98.”

•Installing the traffic signal at Airport/U.S. 98.

When the council originally approved the road-widening project in 2005, the budget was $3.9 million. Due to the heavy demand for building supplies after Hurricane Katrina, the price rose to $5.8 million two months later, and now stands at $7.44 million.

Destin’s Community Redevelopment Agency is paying for the widening of Airport, just as it paid to widen Main Street and Legion Drive. The CRA receives its money from a share of Destin and Okaloosa County property tax revenues in the city’s redevelopment districts.

In 2006, the City Council voted to have work on Airport stop between Memorial Day and Labor Day to avoid blocking the busy summer traffic. Paton said with completion so close, he didn’t know if that was still the plan or not.