Florida State Road 85

State Road 85 (SR 85) is a north–south 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
SR 85 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length	56.486 mi[1] (90.905 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 98 in Fort Walton Beach
	SR 20 in Niceville I-10 in Crestview US 90 in Crestview
North end	SR 55 in Florala, AL
Location
Counties	Okaloosa, Walton
Highway system
Florida State Highway System Interstate U.S. SR Former Pre-1945 Toll Scenic ← 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 at-grade intersection with the northbound terminus of State Road 123, although this will be replaced by flyovers and ramps with a completion date of 2016. 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.

State Road 85 has a resurfacing project planned from north of College Boulevard to north of SR 123, planned for 2014.[6]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Okaloosa	Fort Walton Beach	0.000	0.000	US 98 (Miracle Strip Parkway / SR 30) – Destin, Pensacola	Southern terminus
		0.607	0.977	SR 145 south (Perry Avenue)	Northern terminus of SR 145
	Ocean City	3.039	4.891	SR 188 west (Racetrack Road)	Eastern terminus of SR 188
	Eglin AFB	5.518	8.880	CR 85B west (Sunset Lane)
		5.97	9.61	SR 397 north – Eglin AFB	interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		6.473	10.417	SR 189 – Eglin AFB, Wright, Fairgrounds, University of Florida Research & Engineering Education Facility
		7.752	12.476	General Bond Boulevard - Hurlburt Field
		8.55	13.76	SR 123 north to I-10 – Crestview	interchange
		9.13	14.69	Northwest Florida Regional Airport	interchange
		11.476	18.469	SR 190 east – Valparaiso	Western terminus of SR 190
	Niceville	12.251	19.716	SR 397 south (John Sims Parkway) – Eglin AFB	Northern terminus of SR 397
		12.895	20.752	SR 20 east (John Sims Parkway) to SR 293 – Destin	Western terminus of SR 20
		13.782	22.180	CR 190 east (College Boulevard)
		14.5	23.3	SR 293 south – Mid-Bay Bridge	Northern terminus of SR 293
	Eglin AFB	16.966	27.304	SR 123 south – Fort Walton, Destin, Northwest Florida Regional Airport, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field	Northern terminus of SR 123
		22.42	36.08	McWhorter Avenue, 77th Special Forces Way (SR 210)	interchange
	Crestview	27.635	44.474	P.J. Adams Parkway	to CR 4
		28.62	46.06	I-10 (SR 8) – Pensacola, Tallahassee	Exit 56 (I-10)
		31.286	50.350	US 90 (SR 10) – Milligan, Mossy Head, Downtown Crestview, National Guard Armory
		33.710	54.251	CR 188 (Airport Road / Old Bethel Road) – Bob Sikes Airport
	​	38.268	61.586	CR 85A north (Bill Lundy Road)
	​	44.355	71.382	CR 2 west – Blackman
	Almarante	46.162	74.291	CR 602 west
	Laurel Hill	47.629	76.651	CR 85A north (Second Avenue)
		49.115	79.043	CR 85A south
	Svea	51.232	82.450	CR 393 south
Walton	​	53.212	85.636	CR 52 north (Perkins Road)
	Pleasant Grove	54.184	87.201	CR 147 – Paxton, Lakewood
	​	56.486	90.905	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.
6. "Five Year Work Program/Item Number: 426932-1". Retrieved 5 July 2010.

External links

• Eglin Parkway Resurfacing Project