Ongoing construction of a new Downtown park, as well as other riverfront projects, mean part of the Northbank Riverwalk will temporarily shut down starting Monday, the city said.

The Northbank Riverwalk is already closed between Pearl Street and Main Street. And beginning Monday, it will also be shut from from Jackson Street to the Acosta Bridge through the fall of 2025.

The work will eventually also close Corkscrew Park under the Acosta temporarily, the city said. Those seeking to use its free weights, yoga mats, jump ropes and medicine balls can access it from Pearl Street until construction begins in the CSX Bulkhead Work Zone this fall, when the park will fully close for about a year.

As for Riverfront Plaza, underway for the past year at the former Jacksonville Landing site, construction of a new bulkhead and the first phase of a park continues. The first phase, at the western half of the property, will include a flexible event lawn facing the Performing Arts Center, a playground and splash pad and small café with park office.

The Riverwalk will be landscaped behind a new bulkhead running from Hogan Street to the Main Street Bridge, designed to help mitigate river flooding. And design work on riverfront restaurant in the park begins soon, city officials said.

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“Construction for Phase Two in the eastern half of the park will follow Phase One, and is scheduled to be completed in 2027,” city spokesperson Heather Schatz said in a news release. “This phase will feature a pedestrian path connection to the Main Street Bridge, a grand civic staircase with a large fountain that can be used for water play and water shows, and a beer garden with outdoor seating.”

Other Downtown project updates:

• Northbank Bulkhead Replacement at CSX: The design and construction of a new bulkhead between the Acosta Bridge and West Coastline Drive should resolve subsidence issues along that length of the Northbank Riverwalk. The work began after what looked like a series of small sinkholes appeared along the Northbank Riverwalk at the end of South Pearl Street. Construction is projected to start this fall, and continue for about a year. Pedestrians and bicyclists will bypass the Riverwalk from Jackson Street to Newnan Street.
• Performing Arts Center: Design of the Jacksonville Musical Heritage Garden behind the center is underway. The project will include landscaping and other artistic amenities. Construction should be done in the fall of 2025.

The city is also continuing work on the McCoy’s Creek Restoration project, which started in 2019 with the removal of the Leland and Smith street bridges in the Lackawanna community just north of I-10. The first phase of the creek channel reconstruction from Leland Street to I-95 is underway, set to be done this fall, the city said.

Construction on the McCoys Creek Outfall from May Street to the St. Johns River is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2025 after work started there last year to resolve flooding during heavy rains.

“As designed, this project mitigates flooding by restoring McCoys Creek to a more natural design, with a wider and deeper channel,” the city says. “A linear park system runs alongside the creek and will feature the Emerald Trail.”

City officials say the riverfront projects will not affect traffic, but some detours will be part of other projects, including the Emerald Trail‘s Hogan Street Connector and Adams and Forsyth streets’ two-way conversions.

More information on these and other Capital Improvement Plan projects is on this city dashboard.