The Florida Department of Transportation held an open house Tuesday night in Pensacola to present illustrations of the upcoming 17th Avenue flyover and roundabout project for the first time, while giving the public a platform to give feedback and ask questions.

Project engineers, managers and other personnel from FDOT were on hand at the Studer Community Institute building for the informal meeting to mingle with residents eager to learn more about the estimated $23 million project.

FDOT spokesman Ian Satter said the department will gather the comments and concerns submitted to them Tuesday and take them into consideration before breaking ground on the project some time this summer.

"We got a two-week window for people to give input as part of the public record and then we'll go from there," he said. "We want to give the public the opportunity to express comments and concerns. Once we have a definitive date planned for construction, we'll get that out there."

The project will require the reconstruction of the intersection at U.S. 98 (Gregory Street) and State Road 196 (Bayfront Parkway) at 17th Avenue. It is intended to improve the northern landing of the Pensacola Bay Bridge and 17th Avenue intersection and will include the removal of a traffic signal currently at 17th, to be replaced by the flyover structure and roundabout.

FDOT officials hope the project, which is folded into the construction of the new Pensacola Bay Bridge, is completed by the summer of 2021.

East Hill resident Marilyn Oberhausen attended the open house and said that overall, she and her husband, David, are in favor of the project.

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"I think it's a good approach, it seems like the traffic will flow smoothly under the flyover for the 17th Avenue folks and get people into Gregory Street, I-110, Bayfront Parkway, downtown or wherever they're trying to get to," Oberhausen said. "And it's pretty, it's aesthetically pleasing from what we've seen tonight."

Apart from her concerns about what she perceives to be a lack of planning for congestion on the other side of the Pensacola Bay Bridge entering Gulf Breeze, Oberhausen said her only issues with the project is protection for pedestrians traveling up Bayfront.

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Illustrations of Bayfront Parkway looking east show just a curb and a few feet of grass as the only form of separation between the road and a new walkway, to be built up Bayfront as part of the project.

"It looks lovely, and we want people to have access to this walkway, but I'm wondering if there needs to be a little bit more of a wall as opposed to just a curb," said Oberhausen, who planned to submit these concerns before leaving the open house. "A metal or concrete barrier, maybe."

Satter said a lot of the conversations he had with members of the public Tuesday revolved around roundabout curiosity.

"People always have questions about roundabouts, but the thing is they're safer, they're more efficient, they may take a little longer for people to get used to but the main question I'm hearing is, 'How does the roundabout work?' and 'How is the traffic going to flow?'" Satter said. "I think people are seeing that there's going to be these continuous movements. I think people are excited about it.

The new flyover structure will be just over 284 feet long and have three, 11-foot travel lanes and shoulders that will convey U.S. 98 westbound traffic from the Pensacola Bay Bridge to Gregory Street and Bayfront Parkway. Beneath the flyover will be the 15-foot wide, single-lane roundabout.

The project should eventually incorporate the prohibition of all truck traffic on 17th Avenue in an effort to solve the longstanding issue of trucks getting stuck under Graffiti Bridge. A city spokeswoman told the News Journal in April that the city requested that FDOT incorporate the truck ban into the project.

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.