Florida State Road 85

State Road 85 (SR 85) is a northsouth state highway that runs from US 98 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida north to State Route 55 at the Florida/Alabama state line. In its earliest inception, it was just a clayed road over graded sandy soil, and was known early in the twentieth century as the Georgia, Alabama and Florida Highway.[2]

State Road 85 marker

State Road 85

SR 85 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length56.486 mi[1] (90.905 km)
Major junctions
South end US 98 in Fort Walton Beach
Major intersections SR 20 in Niceville
I-10 in Crestview
US 90 in Crestview
North end SR 55 in Florala, AL
Location
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountiesOkaloosa, Walton
Highway system
SR 84 SR 87

Route description

From its southern terminus at the intersection of US 98 in downtown Fort Walton Beach to Shalimar, Florida, SR 85 is a six-lane highway with turn medians, accessing local beaches and Eglin Air Force Base. The road, known as Eglin Parkway, runs north through Fort Walton Beach, and the town of Cinco Bayou before crossing the namesake Cinco Bayou Bridge,[3][4] and then through the Ocean City area of Fort Walton Beach. It crosses Garniers Bayou into Shalimar, and thence north onto the Eglin reservation where it becomes a four-lane route with grass median. It then skirts the northwest side of Eglin Air Force Base Main Base, with a grade separated interchange for State Road 123 and Northwest Florida Regional Airport, continuing as a four-lane divided highway with a 65 mph (105 km/h) speed limit. A former railroad grade crossing just south of the commercial terminal was removed when the south end of the Eglin Base Railroad was abandoned in the 1980s. Looping through Valparaiso as Government Avenue and the John Sims Parkway into Niceville, SR 85 turns north at the intersection with State Road 20, passing College Boulevard, another removed Eglin AFB railroad grade crossing, and the intersection with State Road 293 Mid-Bay Bridge Connector. Continuing north, there is an interchange with the northern terminus of State Road 123. SR 85 continues north through a grade-separated intersection at 77th Special Forces Way, serving the cantonment for the 7th Special Forces Group and Duke Field. The road continues north, reaching the Crestview city limits. There, commercialization begins to develop and it becomes a divided highway at the interchange with I-10 at exit 56. The road continues through Crestview, the Okaloosa County seat, intersecting U.S. Route 90, the Old Spanish Trail, and continues north towards Alabama. North of the community of Auburn to the Alabama line State Road 85 is a two-lane rural highway. Just south of Laurel Hill, the road crosses on a bridge the abandoned alignment of the former Louisville and Nashville Railroad Yellow River branch that paralleled 85 between Crestview and Florala, Alabama.[5]

Future

Plans are to expand the section of highway between Auburn and the Alabama state line to four lanes once Alabama completes their State Route 55 expansion to four lanes from south of Andalusia, Alabama to Florala, Alabama. This will provide both a better hurricane evacuation route from Okaloosa County as well as a more direct route to Destin, Florida and Fort Walton Beach, Florida from Interstate 65.

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
OkaloosaFort Walton Beach0.0000.000 US 98 (Miracle Strip Parkway / SR 30) Destin, PensacolaSouthern terminus
0.6070.977
SR 145 south (Perry Avenue)
Northern terminus of SR 145
Ocean City3.0394.891
SR 188 west (Racetrack Road)
Eastern terminus of SR 188
Eglin AFB5.5188.880
CR 85B west (Sunset Lane)
5.979.61
SR 397 north Eglin AFB
interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
6.47310.417 SR 189 Eglin AFB, Wright, Fairgrounds, University of Florida Research & Engineering Education Facility
7.75212.476General Bond Boulevard - Hurlburt Field
8.5513.76

SR 123 north to I-10 Crestview
interchange
9.1314.69Northwest Florida Regional Airportinterchange
11.47618.469
SR 190 east Valparaiso
Western terminus of SR 190
Niceville12.25119.716
SR 397 south (John Sims Parkway) Eglin AFB
Northern terminus of SR 397
12.89520.752

SR 20 east (John Sims Parkway) to SR 293 Destin
Western terminus of SR 20
13.78222.180
CR 190 east (College Boulevard)
14.523.3
SR 293 south (Spence Parkway) Mid-Bay Bridge
Northern terminus of SR 293
Eglin AFB16.96627.304
SR 123 south Fort Walton, Destin, Northwest Florida Regional Airport, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field
Northern terminus of SR 123
22.4236.08McWhorter Avenue, 77th Special Forces Way (SR 210)interchange
Crestview27.63544.474P.J. Adams Parkwayto CR 4
28.6246.06 I-10 (SR 8) Pensacola, TallahasseeExit 56 (I-10)
31.28650.350 US 90 (SR 10) Milligan, Mossy Head, Downtown Crestview, National Guard Armory
33.71054.251 CR 188 (Airport Road / Old Bethel Road) Bob Sikes Airport
38.26861.586
CR 85A north (Bill Lundy Road)
44.35571.382
CR 2 west Blackman
Almarante46.16274.291
CR 602 west
Laurel Hill47.62976.651
CR 85A north (Second Avenue)
49.11579.043
CR 85A south
Svea51.23282.450
CR 393 south
Walton53.21285.636
CR 52 north (Perkins Road)
Pleasant Grove54.18487.201 CR 147 Paxton, Lakewood
56.48690.905
SR 55 north Florala
Alabama state line; northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 2014
  2. Crestview Land Company, Okaloosa county map, Okaloosa News, Crestview, Florida, Friday 23 June 1916, Volume 1, Number 38, back page.
  3. "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 427425-2". Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  4. "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 424290-1". Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  5. Google (2011-12-17). "Overview of State Road 85" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
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