‘What’s Up on The SUP?’

‘What’s Up on The SUP?’
San Marco and Riverside community leaders and representatives gathered at the midpoint of the Fuller Warren SUP alongside community members to celebrate this pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly connection between the two historic neighborhoods.

San Marco and Riverside communities celebrate the new Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path

After a decade of anticipation, the Riverside, Avondale and San Marco communities celebrated the opening of the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path, affectionately dubbed “The SUP” by neighborhood and community leaders.

The Florida Department of Transportation held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 6 to mark the bridge’s grand opening; a few days later, on Saturday, the 8th, Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) and San Marco Preservation Society (SMPS) held their own celebrations.

“This represents Jacksonville,” said District 14 Council Member Randy DeFoor. “It represents connectivity. It represents the fact that we are no longer just one neighborhood after one neighborhood after one neighborhood, we are one city. It represents a beacon of hope of our future.”

“I want to give a huge thank you not just to the men and women in hard hats that actually built this bridge and got it safe and ready for us to travel on today but to the neighborhood advocates — the Riverside Avondale Preservation staff, the Riverside Arts Market staff that preceded me — that 10 years ago showed up to the FDOT community meetings and said if you’re gonna expand the Fuller Warren Bridge, you absolutely must accommodate bicycles and pedestrians as a part of that project,” said RAP Executive Director Shannon Blankinship. “That wasn’t an easy sell, but when we stick together as neighborhoods and residents and fight for safer neighborhoods, it works. So thanks to everyone for being here today but thanks to everyone who was here 10 years ago and made this day possible.”

Riverside Avondale Preservation Executive Director Shannon Blankinship, Dr. Wayne Wood, District 14 City Council Member Randy DeFoor and St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman at the community celebration of the opening of the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path (“The SUP”) on Saturday, April 8.
Riverside Avondale Preservation Executive Director Shannon Blankinship, Dr. Wayne Wood, District 14 City Council Member Randy DeFoor and St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman at the community celebration of the opening of the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path (“The SUP”) on Saturday, April 8.

Led by the Ronan School of Music marching band, Blankinship, DeFoor, Jacksonville historian Dr. Wayne Wood and St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman headed a procession of Riverside community members to the midpoint on the bridge, where they waited for their San Marco neighbors to join them.

The San Marco side of the procession was led by SMPS President Lauren Carlucci, SMPS Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Chair Brittany Hegi and District 5 Council Member LeAnna Cumber and her aid, Debbi Pataky.

Participants waved signs and carried banners bearing “The SUP” logo designed by Wingard. While not an official, FDOT-sponsored design, the branding was created in collaboration with RAP at the end of last year in anticipation of the opening of the bridge.

“Much like RAM is the name we give to the Riverside Arts Market, henceforth and forever this is going to be The SUP,” said Wood.

By the time Saturday’s community event arrived, Riverside resident Steve Long said he’d already crossed the bridge a few times since its grand opening a few days prior.

“I think it’s great, I mean look around,” he said. “Everyone’s been waiting on it. It makes it more of a livable city.”

Once united on the bridge, the group posed for drone photographs and video footage done by photographer Mark Krancer.

Pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the Fuller Warren SUP.
Pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the Fuller Warren SUP.

“I think the Shared-Use Path is more than just a bridge connecting two sides of a river, two things,” said Carlucci. “It really connects us as people because a lot of times, in Jacksonville, we drive places but to have the opportunity to walk and see your neighbors and wave hello and have impromptu conversations really creates a greater sense of community. We have that in San Marco and we have that in Riverside and now that we have this Shared-Use Path, we can have that together.”

“It’s great. It’s really exciting and it just shows that when you have a plan — and a good plan that the community’s behind — the community will carry it forward,” said Cumber. “I’m just so excited to have the two sides connected and I look forward to what we can do under the bridge to make it really family friendly and just a really amazing part of the city.”

According to an FDOT press release, the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path was part of “the $126 million operational improvements project at  I-10 and I-95.” The bridge consists of two six-foot lanes for east/west travel across the St. Johns River. It is 4,654 feet long. Pedestrians or cyclists trying to cross it can access it from Riverside Avenue, across from the Riverside Arts Market or, alternately, Palm Avenue or the riverfront sidewalk behind Nemours Children’s Hospital in San Marco.

The opening of the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path marks the beginning of Jacksonville’s transformation into a more interconnected, pedestrian-friendly city. Additional projects like the Emerald Trail, the Riverside Avondale Cultural Trail and the activation of the Riverwalk on both sides of the St. Johns River are currently underway, all in different stages of design and/or construction.

By Michele Leivas
Resident Community News

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading...