JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Tensions were high in a Wednesday night city meeting as Jacksonville Beach residents learned more about a proposed Urban Trails Project.
Residents had a chance to express their concerns or show support in two community meetings at the Parks and Recreation Exhibition Hall.
The Urban Trails Project came from a series of public meetings in 2021 and 2022. It’s a project that would allow people to safely bike, walk, skate or run to the beach, parks, schools, shops and work.
The project includes 15th Avenue, 4th Avenue, 8th and 9th avenues, and Jacksonville Drive.
Tom Letro was just one of the people unhappy with the proposed plan. He lives in a quadplex and is concerned he’ll lose part of his driveway to the project.
“What happens if I need to park in my driveway and I have to scoot over the edge that I was normally able to fit in and now I can’t? Am I going to get a ticket? I don’t think that’s fair. I shouldn’t have to accommodate my lifestyle to accommodate your plan that I didn’t even agree with to begin with,” Letro said.
Sally Stock is another person who’s against this project. She was upset with the structure of the meeting and wondered why residents didn’t get a chance to vote on the project at all.
“We have a very wide street and a very wide sidewalk, so I’ve never seen anybody have a problem walking to the beach. It’s very safe. I haven’t seen anybody have any accidents on our road, but we moved to a side road so that we didn’t have as much traffic and parking issues as a main road and now it’s like they brought it all to our side road.”
City leaders said the project will make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
“This will be an area that I think we can do better for our citizens and for people who want to get from point A to point B, not in a car,” Mayor Christine Hoffman said.
Robin Smith is one of the few people who was in favor of the Urban Trails.
“Sidewalks and non-vehicle lanes are always good. People want to walk with their babies, their dogs, their bikes, teach their kids how to ride a bike. They’re awesome,” Smith said.
Hoffman said while public support at Wednesday night’s meeting was split, she encourages those with concerns to still reach out.
“I think that people who are upset, I want to make sure that they’re heard and are absorbing the information and giving us their feedback,” Hoffman said.
Click here to see the design plans.
The city hopes to finalize plans for the project in January and begin construction next summer.