CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Traffic congestion marred the Strawberry Festival in Clay County, causing significant delays for attendees.
The event, which was held at the Clay County Fairgrounds on State Road 16, saw cars backed up for hours, frustrating many festival-goers and even leading Sheriff Michelle Cook to call the situation “unacceptable.”
Just before 4 p.m., the Clay County Sheriff’s Office even resorted to closing the festival’s entry gates due to safety concerns.
For the past few years, we have gone back and forth with the promoter about the security and traffic needs for the Strawberry Festival. A couple of years ago, they literally hired 2 deputies to work the event. Although they have increased the number of off-duty deputies, this is still not acceptable. Our deputies have been out there all day with no breaks. We’ve had to call in on-duty personnel to assist. This is unacceptable...I’m assigning more ‘on duty’ personnel tomorrow.
Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook
The sheriff also said that if the festival couldn’t hire enough staff for a full and comprehensive traffic plan, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office would not support it, noting that taxpayers should not have to pay for a private vendor event.
Attendees leaving the festival described the heavy traffic, with one frustrated attendee mentioning that they took a smoke break during the long wait to enter the fairgrounds and had to wait even more once they returned to their car.
A News4JAX employee who went to the festival said it took close to an hour just to leave the premises.
CCSO added that it deployed 14 deputies and PSA’s, 15 explorers, 2 supervisors, and other on-duty deputies to assist with traffic management.
