JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A massive traffic shift in Atlantic Beach is slated to begin overnight as part of an FDOT safety project. It’s taking place at the intersection of Atlantic Boulevard, Mayport Road, and Florida Boulevard.
The intersection of Atlantic Boulevard and Mayport Road is where drivers will see the biggest changes in traffic patterns. The on-ramp there will be completely shut down for good, starting as soon as Wednesday night.
Before, drivers heading back to Jacksonville from Atlantic Boulevard and Florida Boulevard would take that on-ramp. Starting Wednesday night, drivers will have to take Mayport Road down to a new intersection to get over the bridge.
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People in Atlantic Beach have mixed feelings about the new traffic changes planned at Atlantic Boulevard.
“It’s horrible. I don’t like that. I like driving. I get into places on time,” said John, a driver.
“It’ll be safer,” said Ed Vanvoorhis.
“This project is specifically designed to enhance safety for all users of the corridor,” said Meg Ross.
The project re-purposes one lane in each direction on Mayport Road, from Atlantic Boulevard to Dutton Island Road West. The northbound lane is becoming a shared-use path, which is essentially a wider sidewalk.
“Oh, that’s stupid. Ain’t no kids are going to be running on that,” John said.
The southbound lane is becoming a bike path, something Vanvoorhis is looking forward to.
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“The little skinny sidewalk right here, that’s not too good, I don’t think. But I mean, I think I’ll like it,” Vanvoorhis said.
Drivers trying to turn southbound from Atlantic Boulevard to Florida Boulevard will now have to turn onto Mayport Road and use the new median left turn to go south.
“I don’t want to go do a loop around. It takes forever to do that,” John said.
“It’s going to take them some time to get used to,” Vanvoorhis said.
It’s going to take a lot of drivers some time to get used to. FDOT says approximately 5,600 vehicles take the on-ramp on Atlantic Boulevard heading west every single day.
FDOT says there isn’t an exact time when the traffic shift will begin, but it will be somewhere between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. FDOT tells Action News Jax the shift is permanent.
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