Gator Bowl, New Year's traffic impact

Some downtown Jacksonville streets closed through Wednesday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Whether or not you plan to attend Gator Bowl and New Year's Eve festivities, some traffic changes and street closings will affect anyone headed downtown through Wednesday.

While the Gator Bowl Parade is Monday afternoon and the game is Tuesday, many streets were already closed on Friday.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Assistant Chief Leonard Propper says events from Sunday through Tuesday require some accommodation.

"We have a lot of out-of-town guests, so we encourage those guests to not look at their GPS and look at our sign boards that we put up to help them get to the parking lots," Propper said.

Closed from 8 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Wednesday:

  • Hogan Street from Water Street to the St. Johns River
  • Pearl Street from Water Street to the St. Johns River
  • Sister Cities from Hogan Street to the cul-de-sac


Independent Drive from Hogan Street will be closed to Laura Street from 4 p.m. Sunday to 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and Coastline Drive from the Landing to Newnan Street will be closed from 8 a.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Additional delays will be in place on other downtown streets on Monday because of the Vystar 5K Gator Bowl Run that begins at 9:45 a.m.  (See map of 5K course)

E. Bay Street, Newnan Street, Independent Drive and Water Street will be closed from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Monday due to the Gator Bowl Parade.

Police suggest those attending the Taxslayer Gator Bowl game on Tuesday use Beaver Street and Monroe Street and take the bridge closest to where you plan to park. (Maps: Inbound traffic pattern; outbound traffic pattern)

"This Gator Bowl will be very similar to a Jaguars game, so you know 40,000 or 50,000 people, if everybody arrives three hours early, we shouldn't have any problem getting people in on time," said Propper.