JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Transportation Authority held a meeting Wednesday to address the ongoing construction that residents along San Pablo Road are calling a headache.
Residents who live near Alimicani Elementary School and River City Science Academy expressed their concerns about people driving on San Pablo Road. They said drivers leaving the science academy are forced to make a right turn, so they make a U-turn in the Ibis Point housing development to drive in the other direction, which causes traffic and delays for those living in the neighborhood.
“Sometimes it takes me 30 minutes to even make a right out of my neighborhood because of so many people making a U-turn inside the neighborhood,” Melissa Backer said.
Backer attended the Town Hall Meeting with hopes of getting some answers.
“I’m glad to hear that the construction is still on time to finish on time. I really hope that they take the community’s considerations around the safety of the construction or the safety issues the construction is causing moving forward, especially with the U-turns, the crosswalks, and just the traffic pattern and the traffic jams,” she said.
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Greer Johnson Gillis, JTA’s chief infrastructure and development officer, provided updates and said officials will work with the city to try to put up signs that would discourage U-turns and thru traffic.
“We understand the inconvenience that happens with construction, unfortunately, we’re going to try to put some tools and devices out there to try to minimize those used U-turns,” Johnson Gillis said.
Johnson Gillis also said they plan to take all suggestions and comments from the meeting and see what solutions can be found. She also committed to hosting a follow-up meeting for residents.
“We’ll come back and let everyone know what we’ve come up with and see if that has any warm and fuzzy feelings when we’re when we return,” she told attendees.
JTA will also provide construction updates online at mobilityworks.jtafla.com.