Perdido Key Dr. roundabout receiving mixed reviews

Perdido Key Dr. roundabout receiving mixed reviews
The roundabout at the intersection of Perdido Key Drive and Johnson Beach Road has been
controversial in the several months since its construction. Long traffic lines are familiar to the
Perdido area during tourist season, but some local residents believe traffic jams at that intersection may have increased after the roundabout was put in service, and District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh has uncovered a 2018 Florida state study recommending against a roundabout at the intersection, according to a July 28 story by Mollye Barrowsin the Pensacaola News Journal.
The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners voted to add $500,000 to the $850,000 already pledged by then Commissioner Doug Underhill to construct the roundabout in April of 2022. The additional $500,000 was also pledged by Underhill from District 2 discretionary fund in the local option sales tax fund. Underhill supported the project before Perdido Key was shifted to District 1 in December 2021.
To his credit, Underhill said he had pledged his discretionary funds for the project and was holding to that pledge and added the extra cost.
The roundabout was expected to be an important safety improvement for Perdido Key, as exiting Johnson Beach Road with any kind of traffic, particularly to make a left turn, was a challenge the roundabout was expected to help smitigate.
A vast majority of respondents to a 2020 Perdido Key Association owners survey favored the roundabout over “no action” or a “traffic signal.’’
But rather than alleviate congestion at the intersection, the roundabout has had a negative affect on traffic.
“I think many of us were surprised at its small size,” said Charles Krupnick, a former president and current PKA board member, told the News Journal.
“For kind of a major intersection it doesn’t give you a lot of time to judge. The vehicle on the roundabout has the right of away, but because it’s so small, it’s difficult, you really have to be cautious. I think because of that, it takes more caution and consequently I think traffic has slowed down.
“Leaving (Johnson Beach Road) at some times of the year was difficult, took a long time and because coming around the big curve on Perdido Key, you know traffic is moving pretty fast. The speed limit is 45 miles an hour, but sometimes people would go faster and so exiting, particularly if you wanted to make a left turn to head west on Perdido Key Drive, was difficult and potentially dangerous.”
Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, who represents District 1, posted on his facebook blog that he was unaware of a 2018 Florida Department of Transportation report stated that a roundabout would not alleviate traffic congestion at the intersection.
“A roundabout is not recommended as the mainline traffic constitutes more than 90% of the total intersection annual average daily traffic,” according to the FDOT report. (The state of Florida owned Perdido Key Dr. sat the time of the FDOT report. It is now owned by Escambia County).
2018.
“It’s taxpayer money and the question I have is why didn’t anyone know about this study,” said Bergosh told the Pensacola News Journal. “Why didn’t anyone know the state said the roundabout wouldn’t work? Why did we force the square peg into a round hole?”