After years of crashes into a Jacksonville business, FDOT takes a closer look at the Emerson Street curve and what fixes could finally slow drivers down.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the past two years, the Ask Anthony team has followed a troubling pattern along Emerson Street, where a small Jacksonville business has repeatedly been struck by speeding cars.
With help from Jacksonville City Councilman Joe Carlucci, several safety upgrades were made in an effort to slow drivers. Those changes included new curbing designed to prevent drifting vehicles, bright yellow curve warning signs and adjustments to traffic signal timing.
Despite those improvements, another crash occurred.
In early November, a driver traveling more than twice the posted speed limit crashed through the fence at Duval Finest Countertops. The business sits just off a curve near Emerson Street and has been the site of multiple run-off-the-road crashes.
Once again, Vicky Marcal, who helps run the family-owned business, reached out to Ask Anthony for help, saying the repeated crashes have left employees fearful and frustrated.
A closer look by FDOT
After repeated crashes and renewed calls for help, the Florida Department of Transportation took a deeper look at the curve and released a new report. City Councilman Joe Carlucci sent Anthony Austin a copy. Engineers reviewed the site in person during both daytime and nighttime hours, analyzed five years of crash data and ran a safety study to determine what, if anything, should change.
Their findings: the curve itself isn’t fundamentally unsafe, but it can be hard to see, especially at night.
FDOT found that eastbound drivers do encounter chevron signs, but not until they are already entering the curve. Westbound drivers, meanwhile, get no curve warning signs at all. Limited street lighting further reduces visibility, particularly after dark.
The agency also discovered that a traffic signal designed to slow overnight traffic by resting on red was not functioning properly. The city is now correcting that issue.
Crash data shows eight run-off-the-road crashes at or near the curve since 2020. Most happened at night, about half occurred on wet pavement, and nearly all involved vehicles leaving the roadway on the south side of the curve just east of Emerson Street. While there have been no fatalities, several crashes caused injuries and significant property damage.
Why a guardrail isn’t recommended
Marcal told Anthony Austin that a guardrail along the property line might be needed.
According to the agency’s analysis, installing a guardrail would likely increase crash severity and overall costs, making it a poor safety investment. As a result, FDOT does not recommend adding one.
Instead, the agency says the most effective fix is improving driver awareness and visibility.
That includes installing curve warning signs before drivers reach the bend, placing chevron signs at the very start of the curve, upgrading existing chevrons to larger and more reflective versions, and improving pavement markings through the intersection.
FDOT says it will continue monitoring the area, but for now, the focus is on making the curve easier to see, especially at night, in hopes of finally slowing drivers down.
Whether that will be enough, Marcal says, remains to be seen.
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