Construction, road closures at an end for Herschel Street roundabouts

Posted on December 6, 2022 By Joshua Garrett Neighborhood News, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill

The Herschel Street roundabouts were closed to traffic last month to allow contractors to stamp the truck apron — the red portion of the roundabout — and to allow for the epoxy to cure completely.

The detour signs have been removed and the traffic is once again running smoothly at the Herschel Street roundabouts, following road closures and detours for roadwork last month.

The beginning of November had motorists taking the scenic route because of a detour rerouting traffic from State Road 211 (St. Johns Avenue) up Edgewood Avenue South to Roosevelt Boulevard and back down San Juan Avenue to allow for asphalt stamping of the truck apron — the red, brick-like portion of the roundabout.

While the truck apron is safe to drive on now, the roundabouts had to remain closed in order to allow the epoxy “to actually cure completely before it could handle routine truck traffic,” explained Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Community Outreach Manager Hampton Ray.

While the closure was brief, the detour signs remained in place to allow for the completion of necessary safety inspections and “punch list” items, Ray added, at which point the detour signs were removed.

This road closure marked the end of the State Road 211 (St. Johns Avenue) from Herschel Street to Canterbury Street Intersection Improvements Project. The roundabouts replaced two traffic signals: one at Herschel Street and Geraldine Avenue and the other at Herschel Street and St. Johns Avenue. According to an FDOT press release, additional improvements in this $1.2 million project, completed by American Lighting and Signalization LLC, included “new parking over Fishweir Bridge, pedestrian sidewalk updates and new roadway signage.”

“This project was proposed by the City of Jacksonville and FDOT was happy to execute on the city’s thought process there and ultimately, I think it, again, provides a nice community feature,” Ray said.

The idea of installing public art at the roundabouts was raised during an early public hearing, Ray said, although a project like that would fall to the City of Jacksonville — “or maybe a community club” — rather than FDOT.

Currently, he said, FDOT “…does not have any plans for any sort of fixtures at the center of the roundabouts or anything like that.”