From the Florida Times-Union:
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-08-22/story/new-flyover-opens-northside-connect-interstate-95-southbound-florida-9aFlyover opens on Northside to connect Interstate 95 southbound to Florida 9A
86,000 people a day travel on I-95 between Airport Road and 9A.
Posted: August 22, 2010
By Larry Hannan
There was a time when Interstate 95 on the Northside was out in the middle of nowhere.
That time is over.
On Tuesday night, the Florida Department of Transportation will acknowledge that reality when it opens a 2,256-foot flyover ramp that will take traffic from Interstate 95 south to Florida 9A south. The $48 million ramp, 50 feet above the ground at its highest point, will offer a two-lane exit from I-95 that is expected to be more convenient to motorists looking to go east to Heckscher Drive, the Jacksonville Port Authority or the beach.
A bridge on Florida 9A over Main Street has also been widened to three lanes as part of the project.
The existing exit at mile marker 362A - a circular, one-lane exit dating to about 1960 - will be permanently closed on Tuesday night.
"It was an exit that was installed before the Dames Point Bridge or Blount Island existed," said FDOT spokesman Mike Goldman. "It really wasn't meant to handle a lot of traffic.
State traffic counts have 86,000 people a day traveling on I-95 between Airport Road and Florida 9A. About 54,000 people a day take Florida 9A between I-95 and Main Street.
Traffic counts are expected to increase with planned expansion at the Jacksonville Port Authority, including the arrival of a new cargo terminal for Hanjin in 2014.
Port Authority spokeswoman Nancy Rubin said the new flyover would be welcomed.
"Any improvement that moves traffic more efficiently and offers more options for drivers helps attract new business to the port," Rubin said.
Dick Berry, executive director of the Economic Development and Enhancement of North Jacksonville, said Tuesday's opening would be gratifying.
"We've lagged behind the Southside when it comes to infrastructure improvements," he said. "And this helps us catch up."
The project also includes additional highway lighting, a sore subject with Berry.
"This was one of the only sections of I-95 that was not well lit," he said.
Berry said the flyover is only the first step, and he expects more improvements to be made at the intersection.
Kathy Thomas, FDOT consulting design engineer, said the state is looking into the feasibility of a second flyover from Interstate 295 northbound to I-95 northbound.
It is also looking into improvements on I-95 northbound to Florida 9A southbound, and from Florida 9A northbound to I-95 northbound.
But the state is only in the design phase, and no money has been allocated for construction. There is also no timetable for getting this done, Thomas said.
Florida 9A and Interstate 295 are north-south roads. The roads will merge together soon into one loop called Interstate 295, and the road will have east-west designations after the merger.
The project started in late 2007 and construction will officially conclude in early September.
larry.hannan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4470
