Walton OKs parallel parking spaces along Scenic Gulf Drive

MIRAMAR BEACH — Residents and visitors should have more places to park on Scenic Gulf Drive, in time for spring break.

Walton County commissioners last week approved a bid of more than $860,000 from Utility Solutions to install about 100 parallel parking spaces that will stretch from just west of the Whale’s Tail restaurant east to Sea Cabins town homes.

Cliff Knauer, vice president of Preble Rish, the engineering firm that did the design and permitting work for the project, said construction should begin in the next 30 days.

“The goal is to get it done over winter break, prior to the spring break rush,” said Knauer, who added that minimal lane closures should be expected during construction.

The additional parking spaces are part of a major project to improve Scenic Gulf Drive, a 3.2-mile stretch of road that runs along the Gulf of Mexico in Miramar Beach.

But at the same meeting, another construction job was pulled from the commission’s agenda. The item asked for the board’s approval to award a bid of about $341,000 for improvements at Helen McCall Mission Play Park, including construction of a T-ball field, a pavilion with restrooms and nature trail.

Ryan Douglass, the county’s construction engineering manager, said the item was pulled because more time was needed to address questions from an attorney representing one of the groups that planned to bid on the project.

“Our goal was and is to get these projects awarded as soon as possible,” he said.

The item likely will be on the agenda for the next County Commission meeting Nov. 10.