A major facelift is coming to one of Escambia County’s most important corridors.
- Escambia County has secured a $3 million federal appropriation for improvements to South Navy Boulevard, the primary gateway to Naval Air Station Pensacola. The funding bill has already passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and now awaits President Trump’s signature.
Details: The money will go toward the South Navy Boulevard Corridor Management Plan, an ambitious project targeting a one-mile stretch from Barrancas Avenue to the Sam A. Lovelace Bridge. Planned improvements include landscaping, new sidewalks, a multi-use path, enhanced lighting, and upgrades to the NAS Pensacola main gate to bolster base security.
- The total project carries an estimated price tag of approximately $13 million, meaning the federal dollars represent a critical piece of a much larger funding puzzle. Escambia County is coordinating with the Florida Department of Transportation, NAS Pensacola, and other community stakeholders to bring the project to fruition.
District 2 Commissioner Mike Kohler, whose district includes the corridor, championed the effort.
- “This funding will be instrumental in moving forward with these much-needed improvements to South Navy Boulevard, which is a vital gateway to NAS Pensacola,” Kohler said. “I’m excited to not only make aesthetic improvements that we can all be proud of as a community, but also to enhance base security through improvements to the NAS Pensacola main gate.”
For anyone who has driven South Navy Boulevard recently, the need for investment is hard to miss. The corridor serves as the front door to one of the Navy’s most storied installations, yet its current condition hardly reflects the importance of what lies at the end of the road.
With federal dollars now on the way, that’s about to change.