Residents of Bay County and especially those living in Lynn Haven, FL face dangerous road conditions along SR 390 every day as they go to work and take their kids to school. From mile long backups to road rage, traffic accidents, and the inability of residents to safely turn onto SR 390, this road has become a safety hazard for the tens of thousands of commuters a day who use this as their only east to west route between US 231 and Lynn Haven, FL. Between US 231 and SR 389 there are schools, daycares, churches, ball parks, and neighborhoods that are no longer safe to enter and exit during rush hour traffic in the mornings and evenings. Residents sometimes must risk their lives and the lives of their families in order to make left hand turns onto SR 390. 

For years the residents of Bay County have heard about the expansion plans for this segment of road (cosite: 461640, 461631) first as a 4-lane road and now as a 6-lane road. While work is finishing up on the expansion construction of SR 390 from Hwy 77 to 23rd St, money has been shifted away from this section, bottlenecking traffic from US 231 and putting the lives of the residents who live off this segment at risk on a daily basis. This section of road is considered a 'D' Grade road which is by all characteristics a failing grade for anything in life. For the segment between SR 389 and Transmitter Rd over 15,500 people were calculated to travel that segment per day on average in 2022. In 2023 alone nearly 1,300 residential units have been added in a 3 mile radius, and several parks and facilities have opened back up since Hurricane Michael further flooding the roadway with traffic. 

As Florida Tax Payers, we demand that FDOT and the Florida Legislature take action to ensure the safety of the residents of Bay County who are often a second thought when compared to cities like Miami and Orlando. We are asking the State to do it's job and make our roads safe again! To accomplish this we are asking the Florida Legislature and FDOT take the following immediate actions to mitigate new traffic on the roadways, and give hope to us that this road will be expanded before we are over developed:

1.)  Put the expansion of State Road 390 from Hwy 77 east to US 231 back on the 5-year plan, and fully fund the ROW portion of the project in the 2024 Budget session. 

2.)  Require FDOT Project Management staff to host at least 3 public sessions displaying expansion plans and receiving public comment on any current and updated plans for the project. And make the PD&E plans and feasibility studies easily available to the public for review. 

3.)  Perform a physical traffic count study for 3 months on road segments 461640 and 461631 while school is in session. Make the study available to the public online when complete and host a public session to discuss. 

4.)  Postpone any new driveway permits and connection road permits on facilities not yet built until the physical traffic study has been completed. 

5.) If the traffic count study proves to exceed the maximum limit of the roadway (16,500 vpd) then indefinitely suspend new development driveway permits and roadways until such time that the expansion project is completed and new traffic generation will not strain the roadway. 

6.) Immediately begin development plans to fix drainage issues along this road section that cause life threatening flooding on the road ways in heavy rains due to hydroplaning and the road way not being visible.