The Brooks Bridge Traffic Switch Starts the Project's Second Half

"It's tough because you're waiting to get out of your driveway for 30 or 40 minutes for people to get out of your way." City Manager Jason Davis said that to WEAR this spring. He was describing how bridge traffic backs up into the neighborhoods around U.S. 98 during peak season.

Relief is coming, but more slowly than most people expect. The next milestone, moving westbound traffic onto the new span, is close. It's also the start of the project's second half. The new Brooks Bridge is two parallel structures, and the second one can't be finished until the 1966 bridge is gone. With FDOT now estimating completion in spring 2029, the Sound will keep looking like a work zone well after traffic moves onto the new span.

The new westbound span will carry everyone for a while

Crews finished placing the concrete deck on the new westbound bridge in September, and FDOT called it a major milestone. Get The Coast reported that the remaining work before traffic can use it includes building the last bridge components, completing the roadway connections, and installing barrier walls, drainage and lighting. FDOT's September 23 announcement didn't give a date for moving traffic onto the new span.

The best timeline available came in June. That's when Ed Hudec, who oversees construction engineering inspection for FDOT on the project, briefed the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce board. Get The Coast's account of that briefing laid out this order:

1. Westbound traffic moves from the existing bridge to the new structure, forecast for "September or October."
2. Eastbound traffic follows six to eight weeks later.
3. All traffic is on the new bridge by the end of the year.
4. Demolition of the existing Brooks Bridge begins in early January.

Steps two and three mean that, for a stretch, both directions of U.S. 98 will run on the new westbound structure while the old bridge comes down beside it. The forecast window for the first shift closes at the end of this month. Until FDOT announces an actual date, treat the timeline above as a forecast.

The work leading up to the switch already shows in the overnight lane patterns. In early September, overnight work cut traffic to one lane in each direction. Westbound traffic was shifted onto the eastbound side between Santa Rosa Boulevard and just west of Perry Avenue. FDOT's weekly advisory for October 4 through 8 listed intermittent closures from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. on U.S. 98 between Ferry Road and Pier Road. It listed the same hours on Santa Rosa Boulevard between east of Amberjack Drive and Ross Marler Park.

Why the finish line moved to 2029

Hudec gave the Chamber board a number that shows why the work continues after the switch. Crews have driven 174 of the 348 piles the bridge needs, and the remaining piles will go in after the existing structure is demolished. Half of the foundation work is waiting on the old bridge to come down.

The date itself moved for calendar reasons. The contract has grown from 1,810 days to 2,109, nearly 300 days more. Hudec said 246 of those were holiday and weather days the original contract didn't credit, and the rest came from a small number of change orders. He added that the internal schedule shows late 2028. FDOT is presenting early 2029 to leave room for more holidays and weather. The FDOT project page now lists estimated completion as Spring 2029.

You may still see "summer 2027" in some coverage. An August 2026 lane-closure story repeated that date, and this spring's WEAR piece said crews were targeting a six-lane bridge "next summer." The newer FDOT and Chamber-briefing timelines point to 2029.

Not every part of the project has slipped. Setting the main-channel girders meant closing the channel at night, with ringer cranes brought in by barge from Boh Brothers in New Orleans. Hudec said that work finished in a month, ahead of schedule.

What the extra years buy

The project is a $171 million design-build contract held by Superior Construction, with WSP as the bridge designer. Here's how the finished bridge compares with the one it replaces, based on FDOT's project page and Hudec's briefing:

Hudec told the Chamber the current span is the lowest bridge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Fort Walton Beach and New Orleans. The new 65-foot clearance meets U.S. Coast Guard requirements. The longer life span comes from the post-tensioning method. "What you really got is a simplified suspension bridge, in effect," Hudec said, comparing the design to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The changes at each end of the bridge

For people who live on either side of the Sound, the most noticeable changes may be at the ends of the bridge.

Santa Rosa Boulevard loses its traffic signal. FDOT says the new bridge will extend past the U.S. 98 and Santa Rosa Boulevard intersection, so traffic can keep flowing and the signal won't be needed. If you live on Okaloosa Island or use Ross Marler Park, that's the intersection you know best.

The intersections from Perry Avenue to Pier Road get rebuilt. The project includes intersection improvements from Perry Avenue on the Fort Walton Beach side to Pier Road on the island side, plus ADA upgrades at the intersections approaching the bridge and new stormwater retention ponds. The full work zone runs from Eglin Parkway at Florida Place Southeast to Pier Road.

Walkers and cyclists get a dedicated path in each direction. Each 12-foot shared-use path will sit behind a protective barrier wall. FDOT and Hudec describe shade structures, benches, scenic overlooks, and walkouts with pictorials about local sea life. The bridge's decorative lighting will be calibrated to avoid disturbing sea turtle nesting areas. FDOT hasn't published an opening date for the paths. Combined with the recent rebuild at The Landing, downtown Fort Walton Beach will eventually have a waterfront park and a walkable bridge to the island right next to each other.

None of this is new to some downtown and island properties. Clearing the right-of-way in 2022 removed the Waffle House and Tropical Waves on Okaloosa Island, along with several downtown sites, and took part of Props Brewery's frontage.

Keeping up with closures through 2029

The traffic numbers explain why small changes on this bridge ripple so far. FDOT counts an average of 66,000 vehicles a day over the Sound on this stretch of U.S. 98, while Davis told WEAR that about 80,000 cars pass over the bridge into Fort Walton Beach each day. At either count, a single overnight lane shift is felt from Perry Avenue to Pier Road. In peak season, Davis said, backups can reach all the way to Destin.

Here's where to check before you head across:

• FDOT's project page, nwflroads.com project 415474-2. It has the official scope and schedule, plus a contact for project manager Jack Harrison at (850) 981-2738.
• FDOT's weekly Okaloosa and Walton traffic advisories, which list nighttime closures by street and date. Niceville.com republishes them.
• The FL511 real-time traffic system, which Davis said the city was looking into as a way to give drivers live updates on traffic and construction.

If you're on the water, Get The Coast reported in 2023 that the waterway construction zone set up for the project covered 1,000 feet around the bridge work, required vessels to use the navigation channel and observe minimum wake, and kept the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail marked along Okaloosa Island's east side. That notice dates from the start of construction, and demolition is a new phase, so check the current official notices on FDOT's project page before planning a trip under the bridge. This is general information and not legal advice; confirm the rules that apply to your boat with the agencies that set them.

Davis had one more piece of advice that applies until 2029. "If someone is trying to get out of their driveway, let them out."

If you're timing a move, a listing or a closing on either side of the Sound around the traffic switch and the demolition that follows, I can help you plan around those dates. Take a look at the Fort Walton Beach neighborhood guide, and when you're ready, Tamela Leann Hayes is a phone call away. Let's Connect.