Back to school construction in Clay Co.

Henley Road Project affecting school zones with construction

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – It's the first day of school for students in Clay County!

We all know it takes some time to get back into that routine. School buses and crossing guards are back on the roads and school zones are in effect.

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There are several areas in the county where there's some construction going on in school zone areas. The Henley Road Project directly affects the school zone for Lake Asbury Elementary and junior high schools. Because of this, it's even more important to get out the door early this morning.

Henley Road in Clay County used to be entirely a two-lane road. To accommodate for some growth and development, some areas are being widened to four lanes.

"There was a lot of traffic out here… a lot of traffic and the condition of the old roadway was pretty bad," said Clay County Traffic Deputy Stacey Durham.

Deputy Durham said construction near the Lake Asbury schools has been going on for about a year now. He said they were told last week it would be completely finished by the start of school, but on Monday they were still finishing things up.

"I can see some problems that may occur in the morning with the school zones. All the barrels and stuff out here, it may be a little bit harder for the drivers to pay attention in the school zone. It's marked, all the signage works for the school zones and stuff," said Deputy Durham.

Construction in several school zones may only make getting back into the swing of things, a little more difficult Tuesday morning. Extra deputies will be in the school zone areas but it goes without saying, remember to be extra vigilant.

"We've gotta slow down for the school zones… the kids, it's their first day back to school, the parents aren't used to driving through the school zones, they're not used to seeing the kids, they've had two or three month break not having the kids not having to slow down but they've got to remember where the school zones are," said Deputy Durham.

This same project extends to where Henley Road connects to County Road 218 where there's another elementary school.

There's also some construction going on next to Rideout Elementary at County Road 220 and Henley Road.