JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Transportation is scheduled to permanently close access from the Main Street Bridge in downtown to Hendricks Avenue starting at 8 p.m. Monday. The closure is part of the Overland Bridge replacement construction project.
Crews plan to repaint the roadway lines Monday night, weather pending. The city of Jacksonville will monitor the traffic signals at Prudential Drive and Riverplace Boulevard following the closure to adjust timing to accommodate changing traffic patterns, officials said.
The permanent closure will increase safety by eliminating conflicts associated with traffic merging from Main Street to exit at Hendricks that currently crosses traffic merging from the Acosta bridge onto Interstate 95, officials said.
An alternate route from the Main Street Bridge to Hendricks Avenue will be to travel across the Main Street Bridge and take the first exit ramp toward Riverplace Boulevard. Travel straight through the intersection at Riverplace Boulevard and continue south to Prudential Drive. Turn left on Prudential Drive and continue to Hendricks Avenue.
Possible routes from I-95 to Hendricks Avenue include:
- Exit at Emerson Street and travel directly east to Hendricks Avenue
- Exit at Atlantic Boulevard traveling east; U-turn at Kingman Avenue (adjacent to Bishop Kenny High School) and travel back West to Hendricks Avenue
- Exit at Philips Highway and U-turn at the first available median turn lane back to Atlantic Boulevard, then travel west on Atlantic Boulevard to Hendricks Avenue
FDOT hired Archer Western Contractors Inc. of Tampa to construct the Overland Bridge replacement project, which is scheduled for completion in 2016. The project includes improving traffic flow along the I-95 corridor just south of the Fuller Warren Bridge in downtown Jacksonville.
The series of overpasses that carry traffic over Hendricks, Kings and Montana avenues will be replaced along 2.3 miles of I-95.
For additional information regarding this project, visit www.i95overlandbridge.com.