Mid-Bay Bridge Authority looks to improve bridge safety

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. -- Mid-Bay Bridge Authority is looking at improving safety on the Mid-Bay Bridge in Okaloosa County and how to pay for it.

They're using a new study of this vital link between Destin and Niceville to come up with solutions.

The 3.6 mile bridge averages more than 22,000 vehicles a day. But as usage climbs so do the accidents.

A year long study of the bridge is now over, and teams are now reviewing safety recommendations.

"Better delineation and specific nighttime lane delineation would be the thing that would benefit the user the most," Will Lyon, Prosser representative said.

They're talking about reflective markers placed in the centerline that rumble when the driver strays from their lane.

The Mid-Bay Bridge Authority has heard the public's call for change, but says they can't do it alone.

"This bridge collects a lot of tolls," Dewey Destin, Mid-Bay Bridge Authority member said. "But we have bond obligations, we have administrative costs. We don't have a pontoon of cash, from which to fund everything we'd ever want. So we are going to have to get federal funding."

Another concern -- a sharp curve on the spur north of the bridge, where there's been numerous accidents.

In that location, they're looking at a different safety feature.

"It's a speed sign that tells the driver the speed they are actually going and beneath, the posted speed," Lyon said. "So the driver can see they are going over."

Crews say overhead lighting across the bridge isn't an option because the infrastructure isn't there to install them.

And to add concrete barriers would be too heavy.

But Niceville resident Emily Probst, who supports any improvements says she is haunted, after narrowly avoiding a head on crash on the bridge.

"The worst part that runs through your mind, had she avoided him, I was next," Probst said. "It was scary."

The Mid-Bay Bridge Authority expects to firm up the safety plan when they meet again in January.

After they're approved, officials say it will take at least a year to put the safety improvements in place.