Ribbon Cutting Marks Completion of Pedestrian Rest Area on 30A

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. – May 23 – Members of the Walton County Board of County Commissioners, Friends of Scenic 30A, Walton County Beach Operations and Tourism departments gathered for a ribbon cutting celebrating the completion of new pedestrian rest area at the corner of Scenic Highway 30A and Eastern Lake Road in Santa Rosa Beach. 

This rest area, which was an empty lot, is the most recent 30A beautification project of Friend's Corner by the Friends of Scenic 30A. It is intended to fulfill their vision of maintaining the two-lane scenic drive and includes a rest bench, bike maintenance station and water fountain with a dog-watering station. Low-impact lighting and landscaping complete the beautification of the site.

"We call it the wedge. It’s been an area of blight for many years. The Beach Operations Department is in charge of maintaining the multi-use path, and this is part of the multi-use path," said Brian Kellenberger, director of Beach Operations. 

“This area now serves many functions. The first function is it’s now a no parking area. So, we use hardscape and landscape as beautification projects disguised as no parking areas," said Kellenberger. According to him, on 30A and Scenic Gulf Drive there are many areas with what he calls haphazard parking. Kellenberger says Haphazard parking creates safety issues, right-of-way degradation, and results in our scenic byways no longer being scenic. 

The Friends of Scenic 30A was awarded $50,000 by the board of commissioners to help fund this project. The Florida Department of Transportation paid for the design and planning to be completed by their consultant Kimley-Horn. Dewberry Engineering donated the survey work, and the beach operations crew donated the labor to build, as well as some additional funds. 

"Please extend our thanks to all the guys at (beach operations) that worked so hard on the project – it saved at least $200,000 by them doing themselves. Any contractor would have charged $250,000 to do the work that you saw there today," said Cliff Knauer, board member of the Friends of Scenic 30A.

Friends of Scenic 30A is a volunteer organization that is in charge of the Scenic Highway Designation from the FDOT.  The 5-member board meets monthly selecting projects in the 30A Corridor and other corridors that are part of the Scenic Highway network that includes 30A, CR-393 (north to Chat Holley Road), CR-83, CR-283, and CR-395.

More information about these and other Beach Operations projects is available at waltoncountyfltourism.com.  

For photos of the ribbon cutting please click HERE.

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