Florida State Road 85

State Road 85 marker

State Road 85
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length: 56.486 mi[1] (90.905 km)
Major junctions
South end: US 98 in Fort Walton Beach
  SR 20 in Niceville
US 90 in Crestview
North end: SR 55 in Florala, AL
Location
Counties: Okaloosa, Walton
Highway system
← SR 84SR 87 →

State Road 85 (SR 85) is a north–south state highway that runs from US 98 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida north to State Route 55 at the Florida/Alabama state line. In its earliest inception, it was just a clayed road over graded sandy soil, and was known early in the twentieth century as the Georgia, Alabama and Florida Highway.[2]

Route description

From its southern terminus at the intersection of US 98 in downtown Fort Walton Beach to Shalimar, Florida, SR 85 is a six-lane highway with turn medians, accessing local beaches and Eglin Air Force Base. The road, known as Eglin Parkway, runs north through Fort Walton Beach, and the town of Cinco Bayou before crossing the namesake Cinco Bayou Bridge,[3][4] and then through the Ocean City area of Fort Walton Beach. It crosses Garniers Bayou into Shalimar, and thence north onto the Eglin reservation where it becomes a four-lane route with grass median. It then skirts the northwest side of Eglin Air Force Base Main Base,with a grade separated interchange for State Road 123 and Northwest Florida Regional Airport, continuing as a four-lane divided highway with a 65 mph (105 km/h) speed limit. A former railroad grade crossing just south of the commercial terminal was removed when the south end of the Eglin Base Railroad was abandoned in the 1980s. Looping through Valparaiso as Government Avenue and the John Sims Parkway into Niceville, SR 85 turns north at the intersection with State Road 20, passing College Boulevard, another removed Eglin AFB railroad grade crossing, and the intersection with State Road 293 Mid-Bay Bridge Connector. Continuing north, there is an at-grade intersection with the northbound terminus of State Road 123, although this will be replaced by flyovers and ramps with a completion date of 2016. SR 85 continues north through a grade-separated intersection at 77th Special Forces Way, serving the cantonment for the 7th Special Forces Group and Duke Field. The road continues north, reaching the Crestview city limits and an interchange with I-10. The road continues through Crestview, the Okaloosa County seat, intersecting U.S. Route 90, the Old Spanish Trail, and continues north towards Alabama. North of the community of Auburn to the Alabama line State Road 85 is a two-lane rural highway. Just south of Laurel Hill, the road crosses on a bridge the abandoned alignment of the former Louisville and Nashville Railroad Yellow River branch that paralleled 85 between Crestview and Florala, Alabama.[5]

Future

Plans are to expand the section of highway between Auburn and the Alabama state line to four lanes once Alabama completes their State Route 55 expansion to four lanes from south of Andalusia, Alabama to Florala, Alabama. This will provide both a better hurricane evacuation route from Okaloosa County as well as a more direct route to Destin, Florida and Fort Walton Beach, Florida from Interstate 65.

State Road 85 has a resurfacing project planned from north of College Boulevard to north of SR 123, planned for 2014.[6]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
OkaloosaFort Walton Beach0.0000.000 US 98 (Miracle Strip Parkway / SR 30) – Destin, Pensacola
0.6070.977 SR 145 south (Perry Avenue)Northern terminus of SR 145
Ocean City3.0394.891 SR 188 west (Racetrack Road)Eastern terminus of SR 188
Eglin AFB5.5188.880 CR 85B west (Sunset Lane)
5.979.61 SR 397 north – Eglin AFBinterchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
6.47310.417 SR 189 – Eglin AFB, Wright, Fairgrounds, University of Florida Research & Engineering Education Facility
7.75212.476General Bond Boulevard - Hurlburt Field
8.5513.76 SR 123 north to I-10 – Crestviewinterchange
9.1314.69Northwest Florida Regional Airportinterchange
11.47618.469 SR 190 east – ValparaisoWestern terminus of SR 190
Niceville12.25119.716 SR 397 south (John Sims Parkway) – Eglin AFBNorthern terminus of SR 397
12.89520.752 SR 20 east (John Sims Parkway) to SR 293 – DestinWestern terminus of SR 20
13.78222.180 CR 190 east (College Boulevard)
14.523.3 SR 293 south – Mid-Bay Bridge
Eglin AFB16.96627.304 SR 123 south – Fort Walton, Destin, Northwest Florida Regional Airport, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt FieldNorthern terminus of SR 123
22.4236.08McWhorter Avenue, 77th Special Forces Way (SR 210)interchange
Crestview27.63544.474P.J. Adams Parkwayto CR 4
28.6246.06 I-10 (SR 8) – Pensacola, TallahasseeExit 56 (I-10)
31.28650.350 US 90 (SR 10) – Milligan, Mossy Head, Downtown Crestview, National Guard Armory
33.71054.251 CR 188 (Airport Road / Old Bethel Road) – Bob Sikes Airport
​38.26861.586 CR 85A north (Bill Lundy Road)
​44.35571.382 CR 2 west – Blackman
Almarante46.16274.291 CR 602 west
Laurel Hill47.62976.651 CR 85A north (Second Avenue)
49.11579.043 CR 85A south
Svea51.23282.450 CR 393 south
Walton​53.21285.636 CR 52 north (Perkins Road)
Pleasant Grove54.18487.201 CR 147 – Paxton, Lakewood
​56.48690.905 SR 55 north – Florala
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. 1 2 FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed February 2014
  2. ↑ Crestview Land Company, Okaloosa county map, Okaloosa News, Crestview, Florida, Friday 23 June 1916, Volume 1, Number 38, back page.
  3. ↑ "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 427425-2". Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 424290-1". Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  5. ↑ Google (2011-12-17). "Overview of State Road 85" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  6. ↑ "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 426932-1". Retrieved 5 July 2010.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

KML is from Wikidata
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