JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Transportation Authority provided San Pablo Road residents with an update Wednesday on a construction project that neighbors said has caused traffic nightmares and safety concerns.
Construction is moving along with JTA expecting the project to be completed in November.
“We are probably about 60 to maybe 65% complete. We’ve begun the shifting of traffic onto the new pavement in the south,” William Joyce, assistant vice president of construction and capital programs with JTA said.
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JTA said traffic shifts near Alimacani Elementary School and River City Science Academy will happen during summer break. Joyce explained what people can expect from construction in the coming months.
“You’re going to be seeing some shifts from the to the new pavement at some beach boulevard, about three-quarters of a mile or about half a mile north. You’ll see a shift to the new pavement. So we’re shifting traffic to allow us to construct the other side of the road,” Joyce said.
Joyce said the traffic shift will happen in phases.
Residents asked JTA for a traffic signal to be installed near the schools. Joyce said that’s something the city would have to evaluate the need for after construction is completed.
Nicole Szarlan, who lives off of Ibis Point, which is about a mile from Alimacani Elementary, feels once the improvements are finished the traffic will continue to be an ongoing issue.
“I’ve lived here for so long now that before the construction, we had problems, so I don’t think it’s going to improve,” Szarlan said.
Szarlan hopes that the safety issues will be addressed before construction wraps.
“They need something temporary, at least, to protect the citizens around here and to protect our children. So I mean, do I think something’s going to happen? We’ve been complaining for a long time, and we haven’t seen anything happen yet,” she said.
Joyce said they are implementing additional measures to address residents’ safety concerns.
“We have an existing crosswalk. So we’re adding what we call rectangular rapid flashing beacons,” Joyce said.
Alex Sease was indifferent about the progress because he said it didn’t address the necessary issue at hand.
“None of these improvements are going to change the amount of traffic, right? Like they can’t control by improving the drainage in the roads, how many cars are going to go up and down the road? That’s really the issue at hand,” Sease said.