Opinion: Thomas Drive Section Gets New Name

Bay County Commissioners made a great decision to rename the North -South portion of Thomas Drive to Navy Boulevard. This good move will bring both positive and negative responses but I think it was a great move.

The commissioners thought it was a good way to celebrate the 250th birthday of the US Navy (Monday, October 13th, 2025) by naming the road that runs alongside the Navy base after the Navy. I agree, it was. They also felt there was confusion, particularly for our tourists to have a road running in perpendicular directions to be named the same. Again, I agree. I moved here in 2020 and it took me awhile to know where I was going when traveling and looking for an address on or off Thomas Drive.

The Navy Boulevard will end at the curve that turns right onto the Thomas Drive that runs parallel to the beach.

The down side will be for all those businesses who have to change their promotional materials to match the change. Websites, Facebook, flyers, newspaper ads and all those restaurant tables with epoxy over business ads. Well, those might not get changed but rather become a piece of history.

Well done Commissioners. Congratulations to the US NAVY - Happy Birthday!

Watch video about the 250th year: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/948713/americas-navy-250th-celebration