The $220 million project that will reshape the I-10/U.S. 29 interchange begins next year

Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal
·3 min read

Construction in the Pensacola Boulevard (U.S. Highway 29) and Interstate 10 area seems almost constant, and just as the Florida Department of Transportation has completed a repaving project on U.S. 29, a long-planned reconstruction of the I-10/U.S. 29 interchange is on track to begin early next year.

FDOT spokesperson Ian Satter said the interchange project is a massive undertaking.

"It's not your typical interchange. Anybody who's driven through it knows that," Satter said. "That design is not concurrent with what we're currently doing now or in recent years. So, what we're trying to do is modernize that interchange, making it safer and more efficient."

The massive reconstruction of the interchange will take six years to complete and likely more than $200 million.

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The project will eliminate the dangerous on-ramps that currently require drivers to merge into the left lane of I-10. Under the new design, drivers will merge with the right lane like most interstate on-ramps.

Workers will also rebuild the I-10 off-ramp for eastbound traffic, mirroring the $8.5 million project at the westbound off-ramp completed in 2018.

Additionally, the project will reconstruct the Diamond Dairy Road and U.S. 29 intersection to allow drivers coming from Diamond Dairy Road to access I-10. Currently, drivers coming from Diamond Dairy Road must turn right onto U.S. 29 and then make a U-turn to access I-10.

Motorists navigate the heavily congested eastbound corridor of Interstate 10 near the Highway 29 interchange on Friday, June 30, 2023. The Florida Department of Transportation is preparing to reconstruct the interchange to improve traffic flow.
Motorists navigate the heavily congested eastbound corridor of Interstate 10 near the Highway 29 interchange on Friday, June 30, 2023. The Florida Department of Transportation is preparing to reconstruct the interchange to improve traffic flow.

Reconfiguring the interchange is a massive project that spans 7 miles and will require the replacement or construction of 12 bridges — including a railroad bridge and the Palafox Road bridge that cross I-10 — rerouting the main travel lanes of I-10 and building new drainage systems and stormwater ponds.

FDOT began environmental studies and early planning for the project in 2005, according to the FDOT website.

Satter said in 2016 the project had a cost estimate of $83 million. In 2019 as FDOT held public meetings on the project, it had a cost estimate of $107 million.

While the design hasn't changed, the cost estimates have continued to increase thanks to the cost of building materials from $170 million last year to about $220 million this year, according to Satter.

"One of the things we've also seen recently is the cost of materials like asphalt, concrete and steel have doubled in cost," Satter said. "Those are things that we don't control as an agency."

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The project was originally set to out go out for bids in June, but Satter said the rising cost forced the agency to push back the date until October, when more funding in the agency's budget would be available.

"We're in the process of securing additional funding that will be needed for needed for the project," Satter said.

Satter said the project is complex and adding to the complexity is maintaining traffic through the interchange and I-10.

"We have to maintain the amount of traffic flow that is out there right now," Satter said. "We'll also have a live construction site. So, it's a very intricate project."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola road construction: U.S. 29/I-10 exit rebuild begins 2024