Escambia County Seeks Public Input On $4.57 Million O.C. Phillips Bridge Replacement

December 31, 2025

An upcoming $4.57 million project will replace the O.C. Phillips Road bridge over Brushy Creek about seven miles outside Walnut Hill, and Escambia County is seeking public input.

The $4,568,387.75 replacement project will include the demolition of the existing bridge and construction of a new bridge in the same location.

The O.C. Phillips Road Bridge over Brushy Creek provides access to residents traveling between South Pineville Road and County Road 97A. The replacement bridge will be 0.015 miles (about 80 feet) in length and accommodate two travel lanes (one in each direction), including shoulders on each side. Escambia County said replacing the bridge will reduce flooding impacts, improve the creek habitat, improve driver safety**,** and provide emergency and residential access to the surrounding area.

A temporary bridge will be utilized as a bypass during the bridge replacement construction to prevent a lengthy detour.

In July 2023, the county approved $2 million in RESTORE funding to be used toward construction. The U.S. Treasury approved the individual project application and award in August 2024.

Submit Comments

The deadline to submit comments is Monday, January 5, 2026. Comments can be submitted via the online form, via email at RESTORE@myescambia.com, or via mail to:

Escambia County RESTORE Division
Ryan Kirby, RESTORE Division Manager
221 Palafox Place
Pensacola, FL 32502

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

12 Responses to “Escambia County Seeks Public Input On $4.57 Million O.C. Phillips Bridge Replacement”

  1. David Dunlap on January 3rd, 2026 12:50 am

    To close off OC Phillips rd. Is out of the question.
    There are too many people who rely on this connector
    to Pineville rd. To require users to either traverse the length
    Of Pineville rd to or from the south or go all the way around
    utilizing Arthur Brown rd is just terribly unfair, costly, and
    very time consuming to the citizens.
    REPLACE THE BRIDGE.

  2. Hmm on January 1st, 2026 9:34 am

    The temporary bridge is probably a million dollars itself. Then the new bridge will be elevated above the existing height leading to a lot of dirt work. Likely some paving and drainage at each end of the bridge. Throw in today’s super elevated construction costs and suck it up buttercup here we are.

  3. Richard b on December 31st, 2025 10:52 pm

    $56,000 a foot for a 2 lane bridge, will it be made of gold,,,,

  4. DAO on December 31st, 2025 8:27 pm

    SW unless you can obtain the needed Right of way aka county owned land to do improvements they can not pave the road, they only have a maintenance claim no ownership.

  5. Just Close The Roaf on December 31st, 2025 5:19 pm

    CLOSE The ROAD and don’t replace the bridge.
    Use the money to pave Highway 164 to make it saver or something more practical for the north end of Escambia County Florida. Just saying.

  6. rd on December 31st, 2025 11:44 am

    @KRIS W. I am with you 100%. There has got to be a lower cost solution for replacing these old bridges. I am not sure what it is but 80′ of bridge should not cost $57,000/linear foot.

  7. van-halen on December 31st, 2025 11:37 am

    well only what they have decided they want to hear more of.

  8. Aaron on December 31st, 2025 10:09 am

    Y’all better be careful down there in them Woods.
    Bigfoot has been known to roam about freely there, making dirt disappear and loves to play with barricades.

  9. Pineville resident on December 31st, 2025 9:37 am

    Wouldn’t it just be cheaper to pave the long road outbound (Pinville rd
    ) , and just close that road off at the top where Occie comes into Pineville and at
    Where the houses end on Occie ?

  10. mnon on December 31st, 2025 7:22 am

    Blows my mind its still all dirt out there and this bridge is so old, it was old 40 years ago when I was there.

  11. SW on December 31st, 2025 5:26 am

    Wonder why, in 2025, there is a single mile of county maintained dirt roads in Escambia County, FL?

  12. Kris W. on December 31st, 2025 4:24 am

    Four and a half million dollars for 80 feet? Who’s building it?! Halliburton?! Raytheon?! This is ridiculous.





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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Archive