JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Drivers, hold on to your hats! Northeast Florida roads are getting a makeover and a lot of it seems to be happening all at the same time.
Those reporting to Naval Station Mayport got their first taste of the stepped-up traffic this week as construction kicked off Monday on the $6 million expansion project.
"It entails some renovations to two major intersections and then the main thoroughfare down Massey Avenue,” said Mayport Public Works Department’s LCDR Phillip Lavallee.
And while that’s going on, so is road work on State Road 16 in St. Johns County. The plan there is to resurface a 5 mile stretch from Green Acres Road to San Marco Avenue in St. Augustine. Crews will also add a new sidewalk on both sides of the road from Toms Road, just west of I-95, to Kenton Morrison Road.
Lane closures will occur between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
But the biggest local project of all, the one costing taxpayers more than $227 million, is the Overland Bridge replacement project.
Construction is expected to start next week on one of the most heavily trafficked corridors in town as a two mile stretch of I-95 near downtown Jacksonville is not only replaced, but expanded.
So, we went to the Florida Department of Transportation to find out what drivers can expect.
"They just have to be aware that there'll be new traffic patterns and they might have to break some of their old driving habits,” said FDOT spokesman Mike Goldman.
Goldman made it clear that there will only be lane closures at night between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. But he said drivers should expect lane adjustments for the next three years of construction.
But in the long run, after the equipment’s packed up and the cones are gone, Goldman says it’ll all be worth it.
"The area's growing and it's going to help the flow,” he said.
The Overland Bridge project is expected to be finished in mid-2016.
Go to the
Project’s Website to find out more about the specific plans.
