The goal of safer, expanded access to Eastern Lake Beach Access was achieved this summer with the opening of the Eastern Lake Municipal Parking Facility.
Eastern Lake Beach Access is located on a tight turn along Eastern Lake Road, where bicycle and golf cart parking at the beach access entrance previously created issues for drivers navigating the turn. The new facility provides additional parking in a safer location for cyclists and golf cart drivers.
“The new parking structure at Eastern Lake is very important to the Eastern Lake community for two reasons. One, it improves the safety of the neighborhood by providing a place for bicycles and low-speed vehicles to park away from the sharp curve and it also enhances access to the beach by providing parking away from the walkover,” says District 2 Commissioner Danny Glidewell. “We’re excited to provide this improvement to the neighborhood and the beachgoers of Walton County.” 
Residents and visitors come to this location to enjoy its unique beauty, which until now was mainly accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. The new beach access parking facility features 16 standard vehicle spaces, 18 low- speed vehicle spaces and a bike plaza just steps away from the meeting point between the Eastern Lake coastal dune lake outfall and the beach.
At the August ribbon cutting, Glidewell noted the purpose of this facility is not to increase tourism, but to better manage already-existing tourism. “Looking at this project, I think it’s going to serve its purpose,” he says.
The Eastern Lake Municipal Parking Facility was funded using tourist development tax, a 5% tax collected on short-term rentals in south Walton County.
There are four additional parking facility projects underway in south Walton County: Grayton Beach Municipal Parking, located in the heart of Grayton Beach; County Highway 393 Municipal Parking, within walking distance to Ed Walline Regional Beach Access; Driftwood Road Municipal Parking, steps away from Miramar Beach; and Miramar Beach Municipal Parking, located off Hwy. 98 in Miramar Beach.
More information about Walton County beach and bay accesses is available at WaltonCountyFLTourism.com.
