ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A few weeks after News4JAX first reported concerns from St. Augustine Shores residents, frustration is continuing to grow over a median that blocks direct access to their neighborhood.
The median, placed near the entrance to Sevilla Drive, forces drivers to make U-turns instead of turning directly onto their street—something residents say is both inconvenient and unsafe.
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Residents previously told News4JAX the change happened without warning.
“We knew nothing. It just happened. You have to make a whole U-turn just to get home,” one resident said.
They call it a safety issue.
The issue centers on the inability for drivers to make a direct turn onto the road where their homes are located.
News4JAX spoke with St. Johns County Commissioner Clay Murphy, who represents the district, to find out what can be done.
“When they called me and said, ‘Hey, there’s not a cut-through anymore, what are we supposed to do?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, let me find out,’” Murphy said.
He said he then contacted the county’s planning department and reviewed the land development code, which regulates how often median openings—also known as “cuts”—are allowed.
“They went back to the land development code, and in the code it says you can only have cuts so often,” Murphy said. “Sometimes there should be exceptions to rules like this.”
Murphy said he brought the issue to the County Commission and proposed adding a new cut in the median, even if it came at a cost to taxpayers.
“I went back to the board with, you know, can we go back? Can we put a cut in there at a cost to taxpayers?” Murphy said. “I didn’t get a second on the motion.”
Still, Murphy said the issue is not over.
“It’s not necessarily a dead issue,” he said. “It is something that we are going to have to study.”
Murphy said a traffic safety study could be done to evaluate the situation and determine whether changes are needed. He added that funding for the study could potentially be identified.
“We could probably scrounge around and find enough money for a traffic safety study today,” Murphy said. “We just have to get to the right person and make sure that we have approval to do it.”
According to Murphy, moving forward would require additional support from fellow commissioners.
News4JAX reached out to multiple commissioners to gauge that support. Attempts to contact Commissioners Christian Whitehurst, Sarah Arnold, and Ann Taylor, were unsuccessful.
However, Commissioner Krista Joseph said she would support a traffic safety study.
“I would support a traffic safety study because I’m an advocate for the people,” Joseph said. “When that many people are wanting something like that, I absolutely think it’s necessary to at least look into it.”
For the study to move forward, it would require majority support from the County Commission—meaning at least one more commissioner would need to agree for things to get moving.
Murphy said budget constraints may be one reason the proposal has not gained traction.
He estimates a traffic safety study would cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
News4JAX will continue to follow this developing story.