Jacksonville, Fla. — San Pablo Road has long been one of Jacksonville’s busiest roads.
Residents from Jacksonville’s Intracoastal West area have long complained about traffic congestion between Alimciani Elementary School and the River City Science Academy.
“I get tons of calls on Tuesdays and I would say about 80% of them were about what was happening right here between the two schools,” Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond, who oversees the area, said Friday morning.
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Jacksonville city leaders are hoping that is all about to change. They celebrated the completion of a $22.8 million overhaul of the roadway with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. The project has been 25 years in the making.
The project includes a lane expansion to the major artery, aiming to address those hefty traffic concerns in the area.
“There was a great deal of backup in terms of this corridor,” Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nathaniel Ford said. “By widening the corridor, putting in the turn lanes, and then adding in the sidewalks as well as the bike lines, we’ve made it much safer, we’ve made the traffic flow much easier.”
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However, with the project also including five miles of new sidewalk, nine new pedestrian crosswalks and 89 new streetlights, Ford said the hope is the project will also do wonders to address pedestrian safety.
“That was part of our design from the very beginning,” Ford pointed out. “Make it safer; make it shared; shared amongst bikers, pedestrians, and automobiles; and to be able to have free flow in terms of traffic.”
The project also includes a repaving of five miles of roadway along San Pablo Road and 11,000 feet of brand new storm drainage - looking to make a smoother commute for the drivers of San Pablo Road for the future to come.
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