JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The Jacksonville Beach City Council is asking the Florida Department of Transportation to prioritize a set of safety projects between two busy roads, one of which would include adding a roundabout.
The city is asking for the roundabout as one option to make Marsh Landing Parkway safer for drivers, particularly those coming off the ramp from John Turner Butler Boulevard, also known as State Road 202.
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The Jacksonville Beach Police Department has reported more than 120 crashes at the intersection since 2014 and said that 34 of those crashes happened in the last five years.
The city’s police chief described that number of crashes as “crazy high” during the city council’s briefing on Monday evening. Most city council members agreed that they want FDOT to make the roundabout project a priority.
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“For safety purposes, with the amount of crash data, something’s going to happen here,” Dennis Barron, the city’s director of public works, said.
FDOT’s daily traffic numbers, the most recent of which were published in 2024, show an increase of daily traffic on Marsh Landing Parkway from 10,500 cars in 2020 to 12,500 in 2024.
Along with the number of crashes, the increase in traffic is a cause for concern for the city that something needs to be done to make the road safer.
“We would like to support this for our community,” Barron said.
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Jacksonville Beach City Council also wants FDOT to make changes along A1A (3rd Street), particularly through adding more crosswalks for pedestrians, more traffic lights at crosswalks and wider sidewalks.
Specifically, the city wants FDOT to amend its original plans for the road to add another traffic light at the intersection of 5th Avenue South rather than 3rd Avenue South, which is one block away from another traffic light.
“I don’t think there’s enough crosswalks, particularly on A1A,” Charles Heartsill, a driver who spoke with Action News Jax about the possible road changes, said.
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Heartsill said he’s lived on the Southside for more than 30 years and believes the roads have only become riskier, particularly for pedestrians.
“It’s tough on pedestrians, it’s bad enough for drivers. There’s a lot of traffic,” Heartsill said.
Heartsill believes the roundabout would make it easier to get to and from the Marsh Landing shopping centers, and hopes that the added safety measures on A1A are able to happen.
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City council didn’t say which of the two projects would be higher on its own priority list, but it believes both need to be done as soon as possible.
“There’s going to be something that has to happen here, this is going to be a big topic,” Barron said.
We’re still working to hear a response from FDOT on the city’s comments regarding the two projects. We’re also working to learn the cost of these projects and how long they may take, but the city hopes they can get finished sometime before 2030.
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