Six days after the U.S. Census Bureau said Okaloosa and Walton counties were the third fastest-growing region in the country, highlighting the need for improved infrastructure to support a growing population, we received a jolting reminder of the perilous state of our traffic arteries and water systems.
A crane being carried on a barge smacked into the Brooks Bridge, the only bridge linking Fort Walton Beach to Okaloosa Island and points farther east. The accident reduced part of the span’s concrete guardrail to rubble and broke a water pipe that supplies the island.
The bridge was closed for hours, tying up eastbound and westbound traffic.
Water to Okaloosa Island — a boulevard of homes, hotels, motels and condos, plus restaurants and shops — was jeopardized.
And all because of a crane on a barge.
Some folks might wonder why there’s only a single bridge to the island, and that one a relic built in 1965-66. Twice in the past 25 years, boards have been formed to study, plan and find funding for a second bridge or at least a replacement bridge. Each time, the effort has fallen victim to decision-making paralysis.
Nobody could decide where to put a new bridge.
Motorists objected to the prospect of a toll bridge.
Residents worried that comfortable old neighborhoods might be disrupted.
Others argued that a new bridge wasn’t even needed. They said redrawing intersections at both ends of the Brooks Bridge would be enough.
State and federal agencies that could provide funding looked at the chaotic debate … and kept their distance.
Wednesday’s mishap does more than remind us that southern Okaloosa County ought to update its infrastructure. It underscores the need for residents to put aside the disagreements of yesterday and start planning for tomorrow.
The task will require conversation. It will require compromise. But it is essential. Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island should not have to be stuck, for ever and ever, with a bridge that opened when Lyndon Johnson was president.
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