State Road 85, Antioch Road improvements underway [PHOTOS]

Improvements at the S.R. 85 Antioch Road/ Live Oak Church Road will include median realignment to increase visibility and a new Antioch Road eastbound right turn lane to access S.R. 85 southbound.

CRESTVIEW, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation is resurfacing and improving an 11-mile section of S.R. 85, between S.R. 123 and Hospital Drive in Crestview.

The $25 million construction project also includes improvements at the S.R. 85/I-10 interchange and access management upgrades at key turn lanes, side streets, driveways, and median openings.

Additional improvements will include drainage upgrades, new curb and gutter, and traffic signal improvements. During construction, there will be periodic lane closures, lane shifts, and temporary changes in the traffic pattern.

The project is estimated to be complete in mid-2023.

Here are some of the improvements underway associated with the intersection at S.R. 85 and Antioch Road:

Crews work at night to place milling material along S.R. 85 southbound inside travel lanes, between Shoal River Road and P.J. Adams Parkway.

Crews are removing the existing guardrail to make space for the necessary earthwork preceding asphalt paving. Guardrail is being removed between Antioch Road and the Shoal River Bridge.

Crews demo the S.R. 85 outside southbound roadway near P.J. Adams Parkway. This work is being done to lengthen the S.R.85 southbound right turn lane onto P.J. Adams Parkway.

A paving train places a structural layer of asphalt in the outside northbound travel lane near Kempner Pond, just north of S.R. 123.

Crews are working to widen Antioch Road at the intersection of S.R. 85.

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The project’s improvements are to include:

Milling and resurfacing throughout the project limits.
Enhancing access management at the following key locations to include new turn lanes, turn lane extensions, and directional median openings.
Antioch Road/ Live Oak Church Road: Median realignment to increase visibility. Additionally, new Antioch Road eastbound right and left turn lane to access S.R. 85.
John King Road: Improvements to be made by Okaloosa County during the project construction timeline.
Cracker Barrel Drive/Southcrest Drive: New directional median opening. Left turns are permitted from S.R. 85 to access the side streets, however, side street traffic will be restricted to right turn only (no median crossing).
S.R. 123 to Shoal River Bridge: Multiple new median openings to allow U-turns for S.R. 85 north and southbound.

Improving the I-10/S.R. 85 interchange to increase capacity, traffic flow, and safety. Improvements include:
Adding a second left-turn lane from S.R. 85 northbound to access I-10 westbound.
Extending the S.R. 85 southbound turn lane to access I-10 eastbound.
Adding a second left-turn lane for the I-10 westbound off-ramp to access S.R. 85 southbound.
Widening the I-10 eastbound off-ramp to include a “free flow” right turn lane to S.R. 85 southbound.
New retaining wall beneath the overpass to accommodate the widening.
Drainage improvements. • Signalization upgrades at each of these five signalized intersections:
Antioch Road/Live Oak Church Road
P.J. Adams Parkway • John King Road • I-10 interchange • Mirage Avenue