The proposed median U-turn at the I-95/Emerson Street interchange. | FDOT
Published on September 17, 2024 at 3:11 pm
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If you’re one of the estimated 185,000 drivers on I-95 between Atlantic Boulevard and Emerson Street each day, you’ve noticed the state Transportation Department has embarked on a $247 million plan to widen that 1.5-mile section of interstate and make other improvements. Next up in the same project: creating what’s called a median U-turn at the Emerson Street interchange to keep traffic flowing onto 95 more smoothly.
As both directions back up during morning and evening rush hours, 25,000 to 30,000 drivers a day enter and exit the highway at Emerson, FDOT statistics show.
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What’s a median U-turn?
Median U-turns have already been installed at Beach and Southside boulevards. They’re the S-shaped turn lanes within the medians on Beach Boulevard that let drivers get onto Southside Boulevard without having to pass oncoming traffic turning, the FDOT says.
The same is also planned on Emerson Street at I-95, instead of a previous proposal to build a diverging diamond interchange, as was done two years ago at San Pablo Road and Butler Boulevard, FDOT spokesperson Hampton Ray says.
“Our designers have proposed this median U-turn concept. You either love it or you hate it. We definitely understand that there’s a lot of feelings about intersection designs. … Itis less expensive than the diverging diamond – it is also more efficient,” he says.
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The highway project started just over a year ago and is set for mid-2028 completion. It will add five lanes in each direction on I-95 from south of Emerson Street to the Atlantic Boulevard exit. New bridges are also planned over Emerson Street and San Diego Road.
Other work over the next four years will include resurfacing Emerson Street from Philips Highway to Spring Park Road with drainage improvements and more retention ponds. New lighting is planned, as are new overhead signs and updated traffic signals. New sound walls between the interstate and neighborhoods will be added, and any taken down wil be replaced, the FDOT said.
Construction will take place day and night, but no pile driving will be allowed from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily. And drivers can expect traffic lane shifts and shutdowns in the area during the next few years, with these restrictions:
- No single lane closures allowed from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays on I-95. None will occur from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
- No double or triple lane closures or detours allowed from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 5 a.m. to just before midnight on Fridays, 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Saturdays; and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.
- With prior approval, single lane closures for pile driving activities may be allowed during daylight hours on Saturday.
And on Emerson Street:
- No lane closures allowed from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. seven days a week, except for pile driving in the median of Emerson Street, which may see single lane closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
FDOT is hosting an in-person open house to answer questions on the project at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the FDOT Jacksonville Urban Office, at 2198 Edison Ave. in Jacksonville.
