Jacksonville drivers beware: North Main Street is getting new bridges, and that means lane closures

For people who regularly drive North Main Street into Yulee or North Jacksonville, prepare to bear with some lane closures as the Florida Department of Transportation begins work on the Broward River Bridge replacement project just north of Busch Drive.

The payoff of this $14 million project is the replacement of the northbound and southbound bridges with new lanes on a single span, the FDOT said. The work will include a new median barrier wall and sidewalk on the east side, plus a bicycle lane.

Contractors will also close the median on North Main about 700 feet south of the current bridge as part of the project.

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That stretch of North Main Street, also known as U.S. 17, gets an average 19,100 vehicles a day, according to state traffic estimates.

Of course, construction means lane closures on the current bridge, no details on that yet.

Detours around the construction site, which parallels railroad tracks that also cross the river north of the Busch brewery, include taking Interstate 95 off Busch Drive to the south or Interstate 295 north of the bridge. But use I-295 and you will run into another FDOT project that's redesigning the I-95/I-295 interchange as well as I-295's Main Street intersection, all scheduled for completion in the fall.

The FDOT had a public hearing on the project in October 2020.

Unless weather gets in the way, expect construction to be done by 2024, the FDOT said. For information about lane closures and road work, visit nflroads.com.

Ramp it down

The Shands Boat Ramp, bulkhead and parking area in Green Cove Springs has been closed for now as Clay County begins repair work on the Shands Fishing Pier there.

Hurricane Matthew damaged the pier deck structure, railings and timbers beyond repair in 2016. Now crews begin removing the remaining piles and timbers, work that is estimated to take three months.

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So the adjacent parking area, bulkhead, and boat ramp will be temporarily closed through Sept. 16, 2022, during the demolition work.

A historic note: The pier is what's left of the original wooden Shands Bridge between St Johns and Clay counties, its east and west sections retained as piers when the current Florida 16 bridge replaced it in 1961.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549