When Escambia County commissioners and the Pensacola city councilmen voted to take $65 million in state and federal funds that had has long been intended to six-lane U.S. 98 near Gulf Breeze and use for projects in Escambia County, they were broke a longstanding agreement to make US 98 a priority.
In the 1990s, US 98 took a backseat to Davis Highway and Ninth Ave expansion.
However for the delays this decade, south Santa Rosa County can thank Buck Lee. In 2002 then-Santa Rosa County Commissioner Buck Lee pushed to move $18 million planned for six-laning a portion of U.S. 98Â to Avalon Boulevard instead.
U.S. 98 is yet another issue that our county commissioners avoid dealing with and keep passing on to the next commission or board. Five years later Avalon Blvd needs even more work and nothing has happened on U.S. 98.
