Beach Access reopens ahead of schedule

MIRAMAR BEACH, FL - Just before the busy Memorial Day weekend, the Miramar Regional Beach Access reopened ahead of schedule.
   
Traffic along the section of Scenic Gulf Drive next to Pompano Joe's was disrupted during the eight-month construction project, which added about 40 parking spaces to the 100-space lot.
   
"This is the result of many great partnerships," Sonny Mares, executive director of the TDC, said in a press release. "Working cooperatively with the county, state and federal agencies, contractors, local businesses and the community has allowed us to stretch our resources and improve this access to meet the future needs of our community and visitors."
   
Jonathan Armbruster, an engineer with Taylor Engineering Inc., said the parking lot now is supported by concrete pilings, making it more structurally sound and less prone to damage when hurricanes or other severe weather phenomena rip through the area. Improvements also were made to the storm-water system.
   
A guardrail, which runs the length of the entire parking lot, was installed to control traffic - and to prevent beachgoers from parking just off the roadway.
   
Maurice Gilbert, chairman of the Walton County TDC, said none of the funding for the $4.2 million parking lot project came from local taxpayer funds. Instead, $3 million was funneled to the project from hurricane-recovery funds available through the Federal Emergency Management Act after Hurricane Dennis in 2005.
   
The Southern Restaurant Group and Walton County TDC provided the other $1.2 million, partly through bed-tax collections on short-term rentals, according to a press release.
   
Commissioner Cecilia Jones, whose district includes Miramar Beach, said future plans involve landscaping the surrounding area to prevent people from parking on and killing the newly installed grass.
   
Meanwhile, South Walton resident Tom Machamer will speak as a representative of the newly formed Old 98 Initiative at the June 9 County Commission meeting about attaining scenic corridor status for Scenic Gulf Drive.
   
"I think first and foremost, we were all kind of surprised that new (U.S. Highway) 98 has scenic corridor designation, (County Road) 30A has scenic corridor designation, and I think parts of (U.S. Highway 331) ... but Old (U.S.) 98 has kind of gotten left behind," he said. "It's really one of the original beachfront roadways in this area, and it was kind of how this community got started, really."
   
Jones said that if the board is interested in pursuing the designation, "we'll proceed forward. If not, then it's a dead issue."