City officials investigating rusted railing near The Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville, Fla. — Action News Jax investigates a local safety concern where many people may be planning to spend their weekend.

Our news crew saw that a large section of railing next to The Jacksonville Landing along the St. Johns River has rusted away, leaving the railing unstable.

We first brought these safety concerns to the city over a week ago, as thousands prepare to go to that area for the upcoming Florida-Georgia football game.

“I think it’s really dangerous. A lot of people use this for recreation,” runner Lauren McMillen said.

Jacksonville city officials told us they were aware of this after we brought it to their attention.

The area in question is on city property, according to a Landing spokesperson.

We first emailed the city on Oct. 7.

After we sent follow-up email on Tuesday, a city spokesperson replied, saying they’re now looking into it.

“It’s a very dangerous situation,” neighbor Matthew Flynn said. “If it’s not stable people can fall in the water, and if its nighttime, it could be a fatal injury.”

Our crews also noticed the railing base in front of the riverfront gazebo next to the CSX building is also rusting, but not as badly.

The city released a statement Wednesday morning:

"Parks is in the process of painting the benches, gazebo and light poles along the river walk. The railing post repairs are in the works and will be completed prior to the painting. They have identified this as an area that takes on water during extreme high tides so they are taking that into consideration as part of the repair."

Cox Media Group