Panama City Beach is developing a new plan for parking and transit

The Panama City Beach City Council has approved a $153,000 work order with the Corradino Group for the development of a parking and mobility plan to go along with the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area Plan.
The Panama City Beach City Council has approved a $153,000 work order with the Corradino Group for the development of a parking and mobility plan to go along with the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area Plan.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Mayor Mark Sheldon says he believes adding more parking is crucial for the Beach.

He and other members of the City Council last week approved a $153,000 work order with the Corradino Group for the development of a parking and mobility plan to go along with the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area Plan.

The Corradino Group, an engineering firm based in Miami, also manages the city's CRA.

"As a council, we are always looking for additional parking," Sheldon said. "We have a ton of folks who come visit Panama City Beach every year, and we want to make sure ... they have a place to park and enjoy the beautiful beach."

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The meeting's agenda notes the purpose of the parking and mobility plan will be to create a blueprint the city can use to develop a "phased approach to parking and transit" for the CRA.

Sheldon said the plan is important because the right of ways many people now use for parking along Front Beach Road are being redeveloped in the CRA.

"We have to have a plan to make sure these people know where they're going to park their cars for a hotel or a restaurant or something like that," he said. "It's very important to have a very clear path and plan for where the cars are going to park."

The CRA was formed in 2001 with the goal of installing tram lanes, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, improved lighting, new street signs and landscaped medians along Front Beach Road and its surrounding roadways.

Segment 3 is underway, and it includes the reconstruction of Front Beach Road west of State Road 79 to about Lullwater Drive, as well as along State Road 79 from Front Beach Road to Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road).

A roundabout also is being constructed at State Road 79 and Front Beach Road.

Three other CRA segments are slated to break ground sometime next year. They are:

  • Segment 4.1 — Reconstruction of Front Beach Road east of Lullwater Drive to about Hills Road.

  • Segment 4.2 — Reconstruction of Front Beach Road east of Hills Road to about Lantana Street.

  • Segment 4.3 — Reconstruction of Front Beach Road from Hutchinson Boulevard to about Richard Jackson Boulevard.

"We've really ramped up the pace of the CRA," Sheldon said. "There's a lot of activity, and it's really starting to take shape. ... We're really excited to see where the future of the CRA is going to go (and how it will) change the landscape of what Front Beach Road will look like."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach to spend $153,000 on new parking, mobility plan