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West side of Collins Road to get high-tech upgrade

Kile Brewer
Posted 9/20/17

ARGYLE – In about three years, residents in the northern reaches of Clay County should notice a reduction in traffic along Collins Road. Until then, residents should prepare for ongoing …

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West side of Collins Road to get high-tech upgrade


Posted

ARGYLE – In about three years, residents in the northern reaches of Clay County should notice a reduction in traffic along Collins Road. Until then, residents should prepare for ongoing construction now that the Jacksonville Transit Authority has broken ground on the project.

“When we’re finished, you will have an improved, four-lane road,” said Isaiah Rumlin JTA board chairman during his introduction of the agency’s CEO on Tuesday. “We will fit the demand of this growing community.”

Construction will consist mainly of converting the portion of Collins Road that runs between Middleburg Road and Rampart Road from two-lanes to four. The addition of the new Walmart, and the Costco which is still under construction, will bring thousands of jobs to the area, and with it, according to JTA, more traffic on an already-busy roadway. The project is expected to start soon and will be completed in June 2020.

“You can hear the traffic behind me right now, and this is after rush hour,” said Nat Ford, JTA chief executive officer, during the mid-morning press conference.

The new roads will feature concrete medians, bike lanes and a revamped sidewalk system to allow residents to pick their preferred mode of transportation. According to Ford, the future will include another mode of travel along their 13 new roadway projects – autonomous or self-driving vehicles – but that’s still just a concept in the forward-thinking minds of the JTA upper echelon.

JTA will also be installing a vastly superior drainage system, and, in partnership with JEA, the project will also include utility upgrades. With the JTA Mobility Works program, the organization is using its lengthy construction times as opportunities for JEA to come in when things are already dismantled to upgrade electric power infrastructure and improve hookups in neighborhoods bordering the new road project.

With bids coming through earlier this year, the project was awarded to J.B. Coxwell Contracting in June and will cost the city of Jacksonville about $19.8 million. This will be paid for mostly through a voter-approved gas tax enacted in Duval County.

“This was part of the Better Jacksonville plan, but it fell off the shelf, we didn’t have the money,” said Jim Love Jacksonville District 14 city council member. “Well, we found the money.”

Ford also announced at the groundbreaking that JTA would be adding a new stoplight along Collins Road as part of the road widening project.

“[Residents] have expressed their concerns, and we’ve listened,” Ford said.

The light would be located at the intersection of Collins and Westport Roads, something that was requested by motorists who have had trouble with traffic preventing them from getting off Westport during rush hour.

The new road will also serve as a quicker route for Clay County Oakleaf residents who prefer staying off Blanding Boulevard.