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St. Johns County commissioners want developer to finish CR 210 project

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Action News Jax has told you parents have been complaining for months about the dangerous traffic tie-up on County Road (CR) 210 east of Interstate 95 in Northern St. Johns County.

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County commissioners blame the developer of Beachwalk for not widening the road and now they are threatening to sue to get it done.

We spoke with one county commissioner who says he just wants the developer to finish the project and doesn’t really want to have to sue.

“At this time, they just haven’t fulfilled that commitment,” St. Johns County Commission Chairman Christian Whitehurst said.

On Tuesday, the St. Johns County commissioners voted to give the county attorney permission to sue Beachwalk developer John Kinsey.

“It’s an area that’s close to I-95 off-ramp onto county road 210, you are passing some commercial operations, some truck stops and then you get into some residences,” Whitehurst said.

Right now, it’s a bottleneck on CR 210 that leads to I-95. This causes a traffic nightmare for residents because of so many developments, including Beachwalk, that have come to the area.

Read: ‘Doesn’t make sense’: St. Johns County Commissioners approve expansion after community shows concern

“There are 18 million dollars in both transportation and parks commitments that our staff is telling us they haven’t paid into,” Whitehurst said.

Developer Kinsey tells Action News Jax, there’s a reason why they haven’t moved forward with the project.

“We were just getting ready at that point to start the work on the last half mile when I got a call from Phong Nguyen,” Kinsey said during the conversation.

Kinsey claims Nguyen, who was formerly a Division Manager with St. Johns County Transportation Development, asked him to stop the project.

“And wait because the county was thinking about continuing a 6-lane widening over the property west of us,” Kinsey said.

But Chairman Whitehurst told us Nguyen no longer works with the county, adding what Kinsey claims isn’t true.

Jim Ludwick, who lives in the area and has to deal with traffic on a daily basis said he didn’t know the developer and county were in disagreement with each other.

Regardless he says this project needs to get done.

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“Whenever a developer finished a community, it seems like it’s difficult for them to clean up all the loose ends,” Ludwick said.