Official Designations
Florida Scenic Highway Program, Florida Department of Transportation
The Florida Scenic Highway designation of the Big Bend Scenic Byway was a six-year public participation process, beginning in 2001, that involved hundreds of hours of public meetings, working groups, field trips, workshops, and presentations.
The application process for state designation was initiated in Wakulla County. Their Letter of Intent was approved by the Florida Department of Transportation Secretary on April 11, 2002. Analogous Corridor Advocacy Groups (CAGs) were formed in Franklin and Leon Counties, and their Letters of Intent were approved on August 18, 2003 and May 13, 2004 respectively.
Following the successful submission of the Eligibility Applications for both Wakulla County (August 2005) and Franklin County (June 2006), a combined Wakulla/Franklin CAG was formed to develop the Corridor Management Plan (CMP). A meeting of the Franklin and Wakulla CAG members in January 2006 resulted in the formation of the Corridor Management Entity (CME), whose responsibility was to develop the final Designation Application and CMP.
Members of the Leon County CAG later joined the newly formed CME, so that, by September 2006, all three counties had representation on the CME. The Wakulla/Franklin County Designation Application was approved on July 26, 2006. A Leon County Extension application to the Big Bend Scenic Byway was approved on February 27, 2007.
Since then, all three counties have maintained active participation in the CME, whose job is now to implement the Corridor Management Plan. The CME meets quarterly, with working groups and committees meeting on an ad hoc basis.
National Scenic Byway Program, Federal Highway Administration
The Big Bend Scenic Byway submitted its application to the Federal Highway Administration on December 17, 2008, for consideration as a National Scenic Byway.
