Town Hall meeting called to address pedestrian safety concerns, alter traffic patterns
San Marco Blvd. – Hendricks Ave. interchange improvements presented
A small group of local residents business owners gathered at Southside Baptist Church to hear about proposed changes to the San Marco Blvd. — Hendricks Ave. interchange.
The intersection has long been a problem with vehicles speeding through, making difficult u-turns, and a dangerous crosswalk for pedestrians.
City Councilmember LeAnna Cumber was joined by Jacksonville Chief of Traffic Engineering Christopher LeDew and Florida Department of Transportation Project Manager Jeff Daugharty for a town hall meeting to talk about some changes under consideration.
The plan would redesign the lane from San Marco to southbound Hendricks that Daugharty said would force drivers to slow down before merging. It would also move the crosswalk on Hendricks further north so it is beyond where vehicles merge southbound onto Hendricks. It would also add a new traffic signal, more room for bicycles, and a median separator on Hendricks.
Cumber said the main concern has always been safety. She says the improvements under consideration should help.
“What I wanted to make sure is that we had enough room for bicyclists, and we had enough maximum space so that when you are going into Arbor there’s actually a whole block for a merge rather than what we have now,” Cumber said.
LeDew said the city will be adding some signage including a “No U-Turn’ sign at the end of San Marco and other signs directing motorists how to access northbound Hendricks.
The about two dozen people who attended the meeting, for the most part, welcomed the proposed changes. There were some minor changes suggested that Daugharty said he’ll bring back to F-DOT. He said the key is to get motorists to slow down coming off San Marco onto southbound Hendricks.
“We’re going to move the curb out…so this traffic (on San Marco) will have to slow down quite a bit,” Daugharty said.”The turn will be much tighter.”
The upcoming opening of the new San Marco Publix and The Hendricks multi-family housing complex are also expected to add enough traffic to slow down some drivers.
The project is expected to cost about $2 million but no funding has been appropriated. The earliest a design concept can be funded is next year, with the actual construction a year later. That would leave the earliest the redesign could be finished would be around early 2024.
By Kevin J. Meerschaert
Resident Community News
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