Frustrated with miles-long traffic jams around NAS Pensacola's West Gate? Leaders are too
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to report traffic has been routed to the back gate since 2016 when the Navy changed its security protocols for all bases.
Traffic jams at NAS Pensacola’s West Gate are causing headaches for people who live in the area, as well as base and local leaders.
So many people are flocking to NAS Pensacola to watch the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels practice and visit the National Naval Aviation Museum, traffic is backing up for miles on the main roads leading to the back gate of the base like Blue Angel Parkway, Gulf Beach Highway and Sorrento Road.
People who live in neighborhoods nearby, like Heron’s Forest, are having a hard time getting in and out of their subdivisions.
Monday morning, Escambia County District 2 Commissioner Mike Kohler, who represents the area, met with leaders at the base as well as representatives from nearly every office and agency that touches on the traffic issue, including the Florida Department of Transportation, Escambia County traffic engineers, representatives from the museum, the Escambia Sheriff’s Office, and aids from the offices of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, and state Rep. Alex Andrade.
“Every day there's an air show, we get complaints,” Kohler SAID. “I’ve had probably 80 to 100 emails on this over the last two weeks, and I’m going to say 40 to 50 phone calls into the office. I've never had this many complaints of any other issue. That's why I convened the meeting, because you have to listen to the people, and I want to give them some hope.”
The public was not invited to attend the meeting, but Kohler said every agency and organization represented had received complaints about the traffic problems. He said they discussed short and long-term solutions.
One of the first solutions, which is already being implemented by Escambia County traffic engineers, is to paint additional striping to mark intersections and prevent motorists from blocking them.
The move, called “don’t block the box” will at least make it easier for people to get in and out of their neighborhoods.
Another solution the county is implementing is putting up marquis boards to divert motorists headed to the base away from Old Gulf Beach Highway, and push traffic to other roads.
“We’re going to put a sign at Bauer Road and Old Gulf Beach Highway to divert them down Bauer Road, onto Sorrento Road, so that most of the traffic will be coming straight into the base. We talked about not letting them take a right turn down there at Gulf Beach Highway and Blue Angel Parkway,” Kohler said.
The U.S. Navy’s elite high-flying demonstration team, the Blue Angels, practice weekly at the base. Visitors to the practice performances, as well as the Naval Aviation Museum and Pensacola Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, use the West Gate to NAS Pensacola, or "back gate" as locals call it.
Visitor traffic has been directed to the back gate since 2016 when the Navy changed security protocols for all bases. Routing traffic to the front gate isn't feasible under the new security protocols because there is not a way at this time to corral vehicles and ensure they only visit public areas such as the Naval Aviation Museum.
For security reasons, NAS Pensacola’s Main Gate remains closed to most tourists and visitors except people who live and work on the base and those visiting Barrancas National Cemetery.
Between the security changes and exploding residential and commercial growth on the west side of Escambia County, traffic has become a much bigger problem on that side of town, especially during the spring and summer tourists seasons.
Escambia County Commissioners Jeff Bergosh and Lumon May, who’s districts also cross-over with the traffic concerns, discussed it at the commission’s Agenda Review meeting.
“The pinch point is that back gate,” Bergosh said. “I know it’s a tough sell and the captain has a lot of responsibilities and security issues, but the front gate access should be restored and that will take the pressure off Gulf Beach Highway, Sorrento Road and Perdido Key Drive.”
Related: Blue Angels have returned home to Pensacola. Here's how to watch practice shows:
Kohler said during the Monday meeting that base leaders made it clear opening the front gate is not an option now and unlikely to be one in the near future. They discussed other options like potentially having visitors register in advance for their visit and plan to come on a certain day.
While Kohler said there is interest in the suggestion, base and museum representatives said they would need more time to work out the details like who would run registration and how they would advertise it, so it’s still in discussion.
May pointed out Escambia County has been supportive, financially and otherwise, of the base and he hopes they can all find some solutions.
“We can’t promote the base as one of our No. 1 tourist attractions,” said May. “You can’t make it very inconvenient and continue to say you want tourists to come. This board has been very generous to the Naval Flight Academy and the Naval Aviation Museum.”
Kohler said the meeting was positive with all agreeing the problem needs to be addressed. Long-term solutions include improving roads and infrastructure, which has been outpaced by residential growth. Kohler said representatives from Scott, Gaetz and Andrade’s offices said they would work to secure funding for potential road improvement projects, but those solutions are a ways off.
In the meantime, they are trying to be innovative and help people who live around the back gate of the base cut down on their traffic frustrations.
“People were concerned if the traffic pattern didn't improve, no one wants to cut off (Blue Angels) practice sessions,” said Kohler. “Obviously that's the last thing we want to do, but if we don't develop some of the infrastructure around there, it's a problem.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia traffic jams at NAS Pensacola spur meeting of local leaders