JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s first-ever IRONMAN brought nearly 2,000 competitors to a route spanning parts of Duval and St. Johns counties this weekend, drawing crowds downtown, and prompting widespread complaints about traffic, road closures and access issues in neighborhoods like Riverside’s Five Points.
Business owners and employees along Park Street told News4JAX they supported hosting a major event but felt overlooked by the closure plan, saying customers canceled appointments, workers arrived late and parking became difficult for staff and visitors.
Recommended Videos
“A couple of our customers had to cancel their appointments because the traffic was so crammed up, so they couldn’t make it,” said Gozde Duyar, a guest relations specialist and piercing artist at Cleopatra Ink Tattoo & Piercing.
Taylor Johnson, an employee in the Five Points area, said the closures made basic access challenging for workers.
“I normally am able to just park across the street. We had to hunt down parking and on top of that, there were a lot of police officers blocking everything off,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that some customers and employees were forced to park farther away.
“I know a lot of people didn’t like it because they had to park really far away… it’s a little unsafe to have to walk so far,” Johnson said.
On social media, residents and business advocates voiced similar frustrations and urged more advance notice and clearer detour routes.
One Riverside resident, Amy, wrote on Facebook: “Incredible event, poorly planned and advertised… I couldn’t get in or out of my house… no signage, no warning… there had to be some way they could have made sure everyone who lives in Riverside knew this was going to happen.”
Another poster, Staci, said employees in the Five Points area were “45 minutes to an hour late for work,” adding that delays affected businesses during a typically busy weekend period.
Johnson said more consistent communication — especially targeted outreach to businesses and residents inside the closure zone — would help if the event returns.
“I definitely would have communicated more with the community… The businesses weren’t really alerted about anything either. And there wasn’t really clear direction on detours either,” Johnson said.
Trinity Eldridge, who also works in Five Points, suggested simple measures such as posted flyers.
“I feel like if they had a couple of flyers posted in the Five Points area… I think a little bit more of a warning would have been helpful,” Eldridge said.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, spoke to News4JAX on Saturday at the finish line, acknowledged frustrations about traffic and said city leaders will work to improve communication.
“I know some people have been a little upset about some of the traffic issues,” Deegan said. “Events like this are always going to be a little disruptive for one day. But the return on investment we get for that is tremendous… we’ll try our best to make sure we’re communicating.”
News4JAX has contacted the city and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office seeking a fuller traffic report and any changes officials plan to make for future large-scale events.