BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
Bradford County and the Keystone Heights Airport Authority are jointly requesting state funds to build a connector road between the original entry road and the secondary access road the county constructed earlier this year.
Funding would also be used for deceleration and turn lanes on State Road 100 for both entrances. The county recently received authorization to tie in the second road to the highway, according to County Manager Scott Kornegay.
The Airport Authority’s David Kirkland thanked the commission for all the support it has shown throughout the process.
Past requests for legislative funding have not all been successful.
Opening access to airport property provides new opportunities for businesses along S.R. 100, Kirkland said.
Plans are to use the proposed connector road running parallel to S.R. 100 to provide frontage property for businesses along the highway. The original entrance will be gated and used for emergency access only, and the new access road will become the primary entrance.
Aerospace Company MHD Rockland already has plans to locate a new campus thanks to the road Bradford’s road department built, according to Kirkland.
He thanked Kornegay for the work on trying to obtain the former state surplus site on U.S. 301 south of Starke, which MHD Rockland would use as warehouse space. The county manager confirmed the company is very excited about the opportunity.
“They’ve already spent money and time on in anticipation of a Bradford County being able to take possession of the building,” he said.
The county is also asking the state for additional financial support to extend Starke water and wastewater lines out to the bypass, purchase a fire engine and fund county road projects through FDOT grants.
