ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Getting around northern St. Johns County is more convenient for drivers now that the new Country Road 210 overpass at U.S. 1 is open to traffic.
The overpass opened Tuesday morning.
"I'm sure it's going to be great, because coming down 210 to get over here to Nocatee is a royal pain in the butt. I do it every day, and I'm sure it will be great," said William Wynkoop, who works in the area.
"I have my kids that go to school further down, and I work at the hospitals, and it's difficult with the traffic," said Danielle Morris, who lives in Nocatee. "I think it will help alleviate traffic to the school and also help going into downtown as well."
The new overpass will take drivers over U.S. 1 and the Florida East Coast Railway.
It will take drivers eastbound to Nocatee, or if they're heading westbound, it will take them to Intestate 95, bypassing extra traffic on U.S. 1.
Drivers will now be able to avoid a stop light and railroad crossing. It's expected to cut down on congestion on U.S. 1 and prevent car crashes.
The overpass opened Tuesday, but construction workers will be out and about for the next couple of weeks putting some finishing touches on it. The Florida Department of Transportation said the construction headache will hopefully be well worth the wait.
"We appreciate the public's patience with us," said Gina Busscher, of FDOT District 2. "This project will be completed by the end of the month, and hopefully it will be what they envisioned it to be -- a safer way to get across the four lanes of U.S. 1 and the train tracks. And hopefully they can utilize it and we won't have as many crashes and conflicts with traffic that we've been having."
Some drivers are unsure about the new roadway.
"Where that road meets with the new road it's going to be a big bottleneck," said Mary, who's lived in Nocatee for 15 years. "I mean, even though they have the lights, it's going to be a huge bottleneck."
"I think it could have been designed a little better, because as you approach the overpass, you don't have an on ramp or off ramp to go north or south on U.S. 1," said John Brendal, who works in Ponte Vedra.