Construction moves forward with phase two of Bay Parkway

Phase two of construction for Bay Parkway, or what's known as "Back" Back Beach Road, is officially underway.

At Thursday's Panama City Beach council meeting, the $16 million bid for construction was awarded to C.W. Roberts contracting.

The project is part of the city's effort to relieve traffic congestion on Back Beach Road, which Councilman Geoff McConnell said is important to the local quality of life.

While there is no start date yet for the heavy construction to begin, the contractor has exactly a year to finish.

"The good thing about this is the contractor is voluntarily offering up credits if they do not get it done within the 12-month period. So they would be fined $5,000 and some change every single day that they do not finish, up to a maximum of $350,000," said McConnell.

While phase three has not yet begun, there are concerns the parkway will cut through the Colony Club neighborhood.

But Councilman Phil Chester said, as of now, that won't be the case.

"It has it coming up Nautilus, which is already wide enough, and then it will go down Back Beach Road, which the DOT already has funding for widening Back Beach Road, and then going down Clara Avenue and connecting, so it will be bypassing Colony Club and Trieste," Chester said.

Chester added that any of the land clearing happening near the Colony Club is unrelated to the parkway but rather pulp wooding by St. Joe.