JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Northside residents voiced their concerns about traffic issues at a Wednesday night meeting related to new apartments coming to Biscayne Boulevard.
District 8 Councilman Reggie Gaffeny Jr. hosted the meeting to learn more about the residents’ feelings. Residents were concerned about how adding another development could cause more of a traffic problem which has already increased over the years because of other developments.
The apartment developer is looking to build more than 100 multi-family units on a nearby road with the access road going to Biscayne Boulevard.
Eddie Johnson, a resident of Biscayne Estates, said that road is already very busy.
“Since they’ve added two or three more developments on Biscayne Boulevard, the traffic right now is enormous. You can’t get out on Biscayne... on Dunn Avenue. And what have you… having to wait… traffic. The timing went heavy on the lights itself, have not changed since all these people moved in,” Johnson said.
The property is already zoned for multi-family units. Right now, the developer has to get rezoning for 14 more units added to what’s been already approved.
“Had we known that the zoning was coming up, we may have had a chance to go down and voice our opinion for it, but the property’s already been approved,” Johnson said.
The developer said her goal is to create affordable units compared to the rest of the market, noting that a two-bedroom would be $1,495 a month.
“I’m trying to make this a place where people can rent affordably for a few years and then move on to homeownership,” she said to the crowd at the meeting.
Gaffney said he would process what residents had to say about their concerns and potentially find solutions.
“We’re going to look at all the options and references, development, whether that’s widening the roads, maybe that’s another traffic light, maybe some speed humps? I’m not sure. But we’ll look at all the options, and then we’ll go from there,” he said. “It’s good that we have honest dialogue about what’s going on in the community.”
Gaffney has another meeting planned for Wednesday at the Somerset Academy at 6:30 p.m. to hear community concerns for Harts Road.