Clay County Public Works officials said they’re looking at an alternate way to alleviate traffic congestion caused by an emergency construction project.
A traffic nightmare left hundreds of drivers sitting in their cars for at least an hour on Tuesday. Marion Gordon says she missed her doctor’s appointment because of the backup.
“The traffic was so bad that I had to turn back because I was going to be late to where I was going,” Gordon said.
All this mess is because of an emergency repair to a box culvert by Clay County Public Works. The director tells Action News Jax the structure is unsound and they had to make repairs immediately.
As of now, the problem is neighbors going northbound have to take a detour on Silver Bluff Boulevard that goes by four schools, causing a traffic disaster for some. This detour route takes motorists to Plantation Oaks Boulevard West past the overpass and high school to a roundabout. That’s where drivers have to continue going around until they hit Oakleaf Plantation Parkway.
“It’s terrible. I don’t like it at all and they can do better than this,” said Gordon.
Action News Jax took these concerns to Clay County Public Works Director Jeff Beck and he said they plan to alleviate the problem, starting as soon as Thursday.
“We would close down the southbound lanes in southbound traffic, switch northbound traffic over on the southbound lanes and let them go past the work area and then transfer back into the northbound lanes,” said Beck.
Beck said for the culvert detour, he believes the busiest hours will be between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Cox Media Group
