Panama City Beach finishes roundabout, reopens lanes on South Arnold and Alf Coleman roads

Nathan Cobb, Panama City News Herald
·2 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH − Drivers now will have an easier time navigating two areas of the Beach.

During the past few weeks, Panama City Beach has reopened lanes on two local roads undergoing renovations associated with the Front Beach Road Community Development Area Plan. They are South Arnold Road and Alf Coleman Road.

The city also opened the final portion of the roundabout at South Arnold Road and Front Beach Road.

Along with reopening lanes on two local roads over the past few weeks, Panama City Beach also opened the final portion of the roundabout at the intersection of South Arnold Road and Front Beach Road.
Along with reopening lanes on two local roads over the past few weeks, Panama City Beach also opened the final portion of the roundabout at the intersection of South Arnold Road and Front Beach Road.

"We're moving both projects forward in phases," said Scott Passmore, assistant program manager for the Corradino Group. "The primary focus of the CRA (is to improve) pedestrian, bicycle and transit uses of the roadways."

The Corradino Group manages the Beach's CRA, which was formed in 2001 with the goal of installing upgraded features such as sidewalks, improved lighting, new street signs and tram lanes along Front Beach Road and its connecting roadways.

According to Passmore, Alf Coleman Road reopened earlier this month. There was a full closure to elevate the road to prevent flooding throughout the area. It was the first of three phases of work slated for the road.

Passmore, who said he hopes for the entire project to be complete by sometime this summer, said a full closure will not be needed to complete the remaining two phases.

The Beach this week shifted the northbound lane of South Arnold Road from its temporary position on the west side of the road to its permanent position on the east side of the road. Along with this, the final portion of the nearby roundabout was opened.

Improvements to South Arnold Road are part of CRA Segment 3, an ongoing project to reconstruct Front Beach Road west of South Arnold Drive to about Lullwater Drive, as well as along South Arnold Drive from Front Beach Road to Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road.) Passmore said he hopes for most of this project to be complete by the end of the year.

He noted work on two other major CRA projects is expected to begin toward the beginning of next year. They are:

  • Segment 4.1, which will reconstruct Front Beach Road east of Lullwater Drive to about Hills Road.

  • Segment 4.2, which will reconstruct Front Beach Road east of Hills Road to about Lantana Street.

Roadway project: CRA committee in PCB says it needs more input to make parking, transit recommendations

"Front Beach Road ... is a 50-year-old design (with) no sidewalks (and) unlimited access to the right-of-way from businesses, which slows traffic," Passmore said. "(The CRA) makes the community more walkable, safer and more accommodating to various types of transportation users."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach reopens lanes on South Arnold and Alf Coleman roads