On the road: Where FDOT would spend billions in Jacksonville area

David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·6 min read
5
The bridge tender takes in the view of stopped traffic from the catwalk on one of the towers of the Main Street bridge while the bridge was up to allow a tugboat to pass through this week. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
The bridge tender takes in the view of stopped traffic from the catwalk on one of the towers of the Main Street bridge while the bridge was up to allow a tugboat to pass through this week. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

On the endless highway of road construction, Interstate 95 and the Main Street bridge will be getting their turn in the next five-year wave of billions of dollars in state transportation dollars for Northeast Florida.

The state Department of Transportation's tentative five-year work program for Northeast Florida shows nearly $1.37 billion for road construction on I-95 through 2029. Most of that money will go toward widening I-95 through the Southside of Jacksonville and northern St. Johns County toward the end of the decade.

Also in the proposed five-year plan is $108 million to replace a piece of the historic Main Street bridge. Called the trunnion, that component might sound like the quirky name of an appetizer but it's a critical mechanism for raising and lowering the span where it crosses the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville.

"It's a postcard bridge," state Department of Transportation spokesman Hampton Ray said. "We want to make sure it's around for a really long time."

Out in the growing suburbs, the First Coast Expressway will continue to draw a torrent of money for construction of that toll road. Construction will advance next to St. Johns County for the final link in the expressway that will run from Interstate 10 on the Westside of Jacksonville through Clay County and then St. Johns County to I-95.

Butler Boulevard, one of the region's most heavily traveled roads, is among the roads that will get money for resurfacing to fix the wear and tear from traffic.

Outside of roadwork, after years of helping JaxPort deepen the St. Johns River, the state is shifting its funding toward the construction of a new concourse at Jacksonville International Airport.

The state updates its five-year work program each year as part of the annual budget that the Legislature will approve in the session that will start in January. Here are some highlights for what's in store from 2024-25 through 2028-29.

Widening Interstate 95

The gateway highway to Florida from the East Coast is down for five major construction projects, starting with nearly $360 million in the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years for repairs and rehabilitation of I-95 from its junction at Interstate 10 north to Beaver Street. That elevated section goes over Myrtle Avenue.

The updated five-year work program's biggest addition dollar-wise earmarks about $251 million for widening I-95 in the south part of Jacksonville from Baymeadows Road down to Interstate 295 and another $294 million from I-295 to the Duval-St. Johns county line. Both of those funding adds are in the 2028-29 fiscal year.

The Myrtle Street Bridge on I-95 is part of proposed FDOT improvements to the interstate from I-10 to Beaver Street.
The Myrtle Street Bridge on I-95 is part of proposed FDOT improvements to the interstate from I-10 to Beaver Street.

The widening will continue from the Duval-St. Johns county line down through northern St. Johns County to where where the future route of the First Coast Expressway will connect to I-95. That project will get nearly $325 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year. The plan also has almost $142 million for widening I-95 in the 2026-27 fiscal year from the future First Coast Expressway interchange down to just south of International Golf Parkway.

Unlike the widening that's taken place on Interstate 295 in recent years, the work on I-95 won't be adding toll lanes. The additional lanes will be open to all traffic without requiring tolls, similar to existing I-95 lanes.

The upcoming work on I-95 builds on a $244 design-build contract already awarded for widening I-95 from Atlantic Boulevard south of downtown all the way to just south of Emerson Street. The state selected the design-build team of WGI Engineers and Superior Construction to do that project.

Completing the First Coast Expressway

The march of construction for building the First Coast Expressway will move into St. Johns County with $904 million in 2024-25 for a segment from the County Road 16A spur all the way to I-95.

That roadbuilding will happen while the state continues to build a new bridge for the toll road connecting the Clay and St. Johns county sides of the St. Johns River. That bridge is slated to open for traffic in 2030.

A rendering shows the new four-lane bridge that will cross the St. Johns River as part of the First Coast Expressway linking Clay and St. Johns counties. The bridge is slated to open to traffic in 2030.
A rendering shows the new four-lane bridge that will cross the St. Johns River as part of the First Coast Expressway linking Clay and St. Johns counties. The bridge is slated to open to traffic in 2030.

Main Street bridge trunnion replacement

One of the most costly projects on the five-year work program will be $108 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year for replacing the trunnion at the top of the Main Street bridge. Another $3.5 million in 2025-26 will finance preliminary engineering.

Ray said the state recognizes the historic value of the blue-painted bridge, which was built in 1941and adds its towers to the downtown sklyine.

"This kind of thing is a massive undertaking so it's planned for a long time out," Ray said.

During replacement of the trunnion, which is one of last remaining original pieces of the bridge's machinery, the state will do a full closure of the bridge. That closure will last for an estimated three to six months.

Trunnion bearings at the top of the bridge operated like an axle guiding the cables the raise and lower the bridge's span, which opens an average of 1,522 times a year for the passage of boats.

Jacksonville International Airport concourse B

The state Department of Transportation has been pumping money into Jacksonville's port by shouldering part of the cost of deepening the ship channel and also upgrading the Blount Island and Talleyrand terminals.

The five-year work program adds the construction of a new concourse at Jacksonville International Airport to the state's partnership with local independent authorities.

The state will pay about $53 million spread over five years to help the Jacksonville Aviation Authority pay for the design and construction of Concourse B so Jacksonville can have more space for serving airlines with additional flights.

An artist's rendering shows the planned Concourse B expansion at Jacksonville International Airport. The six-gate concourse will have a similar modern design as the two existing concourses and feature an abundance of glass and natural light.
An artist's rendering shows the planned Concourse B expansion at Jacksonville International Airport. The six-gate concourse will have a similar modern design as the two existing concourses and feature an abundance of glass and natural light.

Butler Boulevard widening and resurfacing

The state will have almost $30 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year for adding lanes to Butler Boulevard from east of I-95 over to Philips Highway, which is a section of Butler Boulevard that has traffic lights.

The rest of Butler Boulevard where traffic flows a highway speeds will get about $29 million in the 2026 fiscal year for resurfacing from Belfort Road to Hodges Boulevard and another $12.5 million the following year from Hodges Boulevard to the Intracoastal Waterway bridge.

Heckscher Drive and Lem Turner Road bridge replacements

Two bridge replacements on key Jacksonville roads are in the the proposed work program, starting with almost $49 million in 2026-27 for the Heckscher Drive bridge over Browns Creek on the Northside.

The following year, the state will set aside about $88 million for replacing the Lem Turner Road bridge across the Trout River in northwest Jacksonville. Both bridge replacement projects have some money set aside in the run-up to construction for right of way purchases.

Main Street widening on the Northside

The growth of the Northside will bring more lanes to Main Street between New Berlin Road and Airport Center Drive. The plan pencils in about $44 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year for adding lanes along the stretch of Main Street.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Department of Transportation projects in Jacksonville area