By-Line: Julie Murphy, Flagler County Government
It will be a splendid day – likely sometime in August – when the newly constructed roadway corridor called Commerce Parkway in Bunnell opens for traffic.
“It’s taken more than 20 years of collaboration between the City of Bunnell, the Florida Department of Transportation, and Flagler County to get us to this moment. This project stands as a testament to what collaboration can achieve,” said Board of County Commissioners Chair Andy Dance. “Commerce Parkway will catalyze light industrial and commercial growth right here in Bunnell, helping to diversify our economy and bring new jobs and investment to the area.”
Commerce Parkway will connect State Road 100 and U.S. 1 in Bunnell and that will improve community safety by cutting the travel time for first responders, as well as residents, between the two points. And, as its name suggests, the roadway will open previously landlocked properties for commerce – light industrial, commercial, as well as residential growth.
In July 2022, the State of Florida allocated $6.8 million to Bunnell for the project through Legislative Appropriation Funding. Additionally, Flagler County and the City of Bunnell jointly participated in dedicating an additional $5.9 million in funding toward the roadway and utilities construction project. The project is currently projected to be completed at approximately $1 million under the estimated $12.75 million total cost including roadway and utility construction, engineering, and CEI.
The City of Bunnell completed the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study in 2013, and the design in 2017. Flagler County has been administering the project for Bunnell since.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts of former house speaker Paul Renner, former senator Travis Hutson, and former Congressman John Mica, who worked so hard for the benefit of the Flagler County community,” said County Administrator Heidi Petito. “This project will bolster our economic development efforts, and it will improve public safety by providing another way to get across this portion of the county when there is an emergency.”
Commerce Parkway consists of two, undivided 11-foot lanes with 8-foot roadside shoulders, five feet of which are paved. There are open drainage swales on both sides of the roadway. There is a 5-foot sidewalk along the eastern side.
The total right-of-way is 80 feet, flanked on both sides by 15-foot easements.
