Clay County drivers are counting down the days until the area’s traffic-clogged roads are long gone, but the completion of two sections along the First Coast Expressway should provide some relief.

A 20-year-old man from Jacksonville died in a crash on State Road 23, also known as First Coast Expressway, Thursday evening, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Highway 17 and Interstate 295 interchange near the Duval-Clay border is one of the busiest interchanges in Northeast Florida and it’s been under construction for years.

A 38-year-old driver died Saturday afternoon after losing control of his truck as he entered the southbound ramp to First Coast Expressway (State Road 23), according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A 70-year-old man was struck multiple times by cars Monday morning on First Coast Expressway near Trail Ridge Road, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

This is part of Clay's 2024 Legislative Priorities report to state leaders

A 53-year-old Jacksonville man was killed in a single-vehicle crash Monday afternoon while driving on the First Coast Expressway, north of Argyle Forest Boulevard, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

If you went to the Clay County Agricultural Fair this weekend, you probably got caught in traffic jams on State Road 16, which is the only road in or out of the fair.

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – A major interchange in Clay County is a step closer to being named after a Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy who died last year with complications of COVID-19. The County Commission unanimously approved Tuesday afternoon to rename the intersection of State Road 23 (First Coast Expressway) and Henley Road as Sgt. Eric John Twisdale Memorial Interchange. Twisdale was a deputy with CCSO since 1998 and worked with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office before that. The Sheriff’s Office said Twisdale acquired the virus on the job.

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Clay County deputies and a SWAT team spent several hours early Friday morning in an Eagle Landing neighborhood after the Orange Park Police Department received a call about a violent incident in a home and hostages may inside. According to the 911 call, the caller said he had a bomb strapped to his chest and demanded money. “I want $30,000, otherwise I’m going to blow up the hostages and the entire building with by bombs. “It appears at this time the call concerning this incident was a prank,” deputies said in a release Friday afternoon. The SWAT team and their equipment packed up and left.

A new bridge that will connect Clay and St. Johns counties as part of the First Coast Expressway project will start in 2022, a year sooner than expected, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The bridge over the St. Johns River will be constructed just south of the existing two-lane Shands Bridge and will include four travel lanes, as well as emergency shoulders and a multiuse pathway for bicyclists and pedestrians. Larry Williams, a Clay County resident who lives next to the State Road 16 Shands Bridge is ready for the construction to get underway. Construction of the new bridge is expected to cost about $324 million and take about five years to complete. The First Coast Expressway project will ultimately span 46 miles across parts of Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties.

VIDEO: A new bridge that will connect Clay and St. Johns counties as part of the First Coast Expressway project will start in 2022, a year sooner than expected, according to the Florida Department of... Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

In a few weeks, tolls begin on the First Coast Expressway. News4Jax reporter Lena Pringle has information for drivers.