Published on May 22, 2023 at 2:06 pm
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Q. After reading about the start of construction on the new $62.84 million medical examiner’s office at 4368 N. Davis St., Jacksonville Today newsletter reader Ollie T. wondered about the road behind that site.
He asks:
“We know the medical examiner office is moving to North Davis. Will plans be made to reopen that back street leading into Gateway Town Center?”
Part of West 44th Street runs directly behind the new medical examiner’s office site on North Davis Street. For many years, the half-mile stretch of narrow roadway was a connection for drivers between Golfair Boulevard and the Gateway Town Center.
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At some point, the city blocked off West 44th Street a few dozen feet off North Davis Street. More recently, the city also barricaded West 44th Street as it merged with the south end of the Gateway mall.
A: When we asked the city, a spokesperson called that segment of West 44th a “private driveway” running through the new medical examiner’s site, and it “will not be re-opened as a cut-through to Gateway Mall on COJ owned land.”
“The asphalt is not located in a public right of way and instead is located on a series of ‘fee simple’ parcels,” the city’s response said. “Most of the length of the asphalt is on privately owned land.”
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