JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s University Boulevard has long had a reputation as one of the city’s most dangerous roads for people on foot and on bikes. Now, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the City of Jacksonville are asking residents to help shape a redesign that could change that.
JTA and city officials held a public workshop Wednesday night to gather input on five redesign concepts for the stretch of University Boulevard between the Arlington Expressway and the Merrill Road roundabout.
What’s wrong with University Boulevard now
The problems shift from block to block. Sidewalks narrow or disappear. Crossings are too far from where people actually need them — or don’t exist at all. And several lanes of fast-moving traffic separate homes, bus stops and businesses.
“You have a lot of traffic and speeding down the road,” said Melvin D. Williams, owner of Smoke City BBQ on University Boulevard. “I think we need more of a police presence.”
Four redesign options on the table
The four concepts range from keeping the corridor at five lanes with updated traffic signals to reducing parts of it to three lanes. Two of the options would add roundabouts.
All four designs include a 10-foot shared-use path on both sides of Arlington Road, as well as a shared-use path on the west side and a six-foot sidewalk on the east side of the corridor.
Project Manager Matt Bolyard and his design team with GEI presented the options at Wednesday’s workshop.
“We’re trying to put community input into the design and really increase the address of University Boulevard instead of just making it a roadway,” Bolyard said. “We’re trying to create it to be more of a community address and feature.”
Community pushback on roundabouts
After the first public workshop, Option 4 emerged as the community’s top choice — but multiple versions of that plan exist, and at least one includes a roundabout near businesses along the corridor.
Some business owners aren’t convinced it will work for their customers.
“They plan where they have to put the roundabout affects our business,” Williams said. “If that roundabout is too long for our customers, they won’t be able to come in or out.”
Resident Betty Elser raised a concern many drivers share. “We still have people who have no idea what to do at a roundabout — they just stop in the middle,” she said. “But I also notice traffic backs up very much.”
City of Jacksonville Director of Public Works Nina Sickler pushed back on those concerns, pointing to roundabouts’ safety record.
“In terms of safety, the roundabout has fewer conflicts at any time and reduces the delay at that intersection in terms of having to wait for the signal to change,” Sickler said. “Hopefully it will improve access to business once the construction is complete.”
Cost and timeline
JTA and the city are looking at $32 million to $34 million for construction, which is expected to start sometime early next year.
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