A study recommends additional crosswalks, roundabouts & pedestrian signals. More than 200 crashes, many resulting in injuries, two of them deadly, occurred in 2025.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Moncrief Road in Northwest Jacksonville has been identified as one of Jacksonville’s dangerous roads and a priority for safety improvements as part of the city’s ‘Vision Zero Action Plan.’

When asked about crossing Moncrief Road at its busy intersections, a few people walking along the roadway told First Coast News how they felt.

“My heart beats every time I cross [the street]… every time I cross,” said Buddy Francis.

“When the signal says it’s okay for pedestrians, no. You can’t just walk out into the road,” said Carlton Jefferson.

“You’ve got too many accidents along Moncrief, it’s dangerous,” said Rashad Johnson.

Moncrief Road is part of the High Injury Network, according to the city’s senior bicycle-pedestrian coordinator Matt Fall, due to the alarming number of crashes involving cars, pedestrians and bicyclists.

“The High Injury Network is 100% data-driven,” said Fall. “We looked just at crash analysis, and they weighted the injury level of each crash… then they determine which routes have the high number of contact points and the intersections that need safety improvements.”

“It’s very dangerous [along Moncrief and MLK Parkway],” said Jefferson. “I don’t believe it’s the construction of it. I think it’s uncaring of the drivers. The driver’s five or ten seconds after the lights go red, they’ll still run it and you cannot just walk out there.”

More than 200 crashes, many resulting in injuries, two of them deadly, occurred along the corridor in 2025, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Transparency Portal.

The latest study on Moncrief Road, released by the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, analyzed a 5.25-mile stretch of Moncrief Road between MLK Parkway and New Kings Road, and identified feasible strategies to improve the safety of the corridor for drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and bicyclists. The study puts an emphasis on the lack of crosswalks, like at the 13th Street intersection where there is only one crosswalk at a four-way intersection.

“It’s dangerous… I walk this intersection several times a day for work and errands and I almost see a close call every day,” said Hector Aponte, Jr.

So, how can the city make the corridor safer? The City of Jacksonville has a Vision Zero Action Plan to implement changes in hopes of bringing deadly and serious injury wrecks down to zero by 2045. Fall said it wouldn’t be feasible to try to eliminate crashes, as many of them are due to human error, but to prevent serious injuries and death as a result of a crash.

“We use recommendations from the traffic study,” said Fall. “For example, we’d add a shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians and add treatments to slow vehicle movements, so there’s less crash severity.”

Roundabouts are intended to slow down traffic and the study recommended two: one at the intersection of West 45th Street and the other at New Kings Road. The total cost of all the recommended road improvements adds up to more than $19 million. While a few projects are budgeted in the capital improvement plan and eligible as mobility fee projects, there is no timeline for those changes yet, according to Fall.

Fall does say the city has already begun implementing safety improvement projects in other parts of the city like in the downtown area, and will continue to measure the success of the changes to help make improvements in other areas.

“Moncrief really needs to be improved and more safe for all the kids, families, the elderly and people who go across back-and-forth,” said Johnson. “I hope things get better.”

For now, Fall said the city is working with other agencies like FDOT and JTA to see if any roadway projects intersect, so they can work together on safety improvements and look into low or no-cost options like adding painted crosswalks and adjusting the timing for traffic lights.