MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – New lane closures on County Road 220 that links Fleming Island and Middleburg went into effect this week, worsening a yearslong traffic backlog that drivers say has become intolerable.
RELATED: Progress and roadblocks in Clay County as massive road construction projects move forward
The latest closures, at Henley Road in the rapidly growing Lake Asbury area, have blocked additional lanes on one of the county’s busiest corridors and created new backups in multiple directions.
“It’s horrible,” Arlene Starling, a Clay County resident, said. “It seems to never end. It will be at least another year.”
Steve Powell, another resident, said the pace of work is frustrating.
“It amazes me how they can build a football stadium in two years, but it takes two years to build a bridge,” he said. “I think it’s awful. They don’t seem to have planned it well so you can get from point A to point B.”
Road crews have closed lanes leading both toward Fleming Island and toward Middleburg; the lane toward Orange Park remained open during the report. Reporters observed construction crews allow a sheriff’s deputy through a section of road that has not yet been completed, raising concerns about emergency vehicle access.
Scott Johnson got stuck in traffic while putting this story together.
Drivers did get some limited relief at the Shands Bridge over the past 48 hours. Crews closed the bridge over the weekend to replace two spans. The work had been scheduled for two consecutive weekends, but crews worked 56 hours nonstop to finish the repairs early, officials said.
Still, tens of thousands of residents say they feel surrounded by orange barrels, lane closures and construction equipment — a pattern that has persisted for years in parts of Clay County.
Clay County posts details about ongoing construction projects on its website, claycounty.gov, where residents can sign up for updates.