A car passes Wicked Barley on Baymeadows Road, where a man and his child were killed on Friday, May 16, 2025. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today
Published on May 20, 2025 at 1:21 pm
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City Council member Joe Carlucci is pushing the city and state to improve safety on a section of Baymeadows Road where a Jacksonville man and his 1-year-old son were killed by a car on Friday night.
Carlucci said the deaths of Mitchell Patch and son Everett have “shaken the community of Baymeadows and the family,” and he is committed to making sure something like this does not happen again.
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Patch, a teacher at Bayview Elementary School, was carrying his son across the 4100 block of Baymeadows Road at 8:30 p.m. when a Honda hit them, police said The father and son had just left the Wicked Barley Brewing Company.
The two deaths became the 61st and 62nd traffic fatality so far this year in Jacksonville, 12 involving pedestrians. The deaths of Patch and his son on the busy four-lane road prompted Carlucci to speak to the city’s traffic engineering director and the Florida Department of Transportation to request safety improvements.
“I have spoken to FDOT District 2 director about making this a priority and have formally requested the required study be done in order to start the process of discovering what traffic signaling can be installed,” Carlucci said in a statement Tuesday. “FDOT will be conducting the study/survey in the coming weeks. This is a requirement prior to any traffic enhancements can be installed.”
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FDOT figures show more than 19,000 vehicles a day travel that part of Baymeadows Road just east of San Jose Boulevard. Although Wicked Barley has a parking lot on site, overflow crowds often park in the Goodby’s Creek Executive Park across the busy road.
Police said the Honda’s driver was hospitalized after the crash and was cooperating with detectives. Police did not initially release information about any possible charges.
In a Facebook post, Travis Akers, also a Duval County teacher, said a crosswalk needs to be installed between Wicked Barley and the office park immediately.
“This tragedy did not occur in a vacuum. Members of the community have repeatedly voiced concerns about pedestrian safety along this busy stretch of Baymeadows Road, especially in front of Wicked Barley, a popular local gathering place,” he wrote. “There is no designated pedestrian crosswalk in this area. Despite clear public demand and frequent foot traffic, safety measures remain absent. How many more lives must be lost before action is taken?”
FDOT told News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today news partner, that it follows standard operating procedure in its review of safety needs at a crash site on state roads.
“FDOT reviews all reported crashes on state roadways and interstates — a special emphasis is placed on fatalities and crashes with injuries,” it said. “If there are improvements that can be made to enhance the safety of the facilities, FDOT will work to implement them. This process includes careful analysis by professional engineers and other evaluations that may be warranted.”
Carlucci said he has the backing of state lawmakers — Rep. Wyman Duggan and Sen. Clay Yarborough — in making changes on that part of Baymeadows Road.
“My ultimate goal is to have an impactful improvement along this roadway as soon as possible,” Carlucci said. “My opinion is that there needs to be a traffic signal, additional lighting, road striping and signage to fully enhance this area.
“Once I receive the information from FDOT’s survey, we can make a full determination on what the most effective approach will be. Cars are flying down this roadway and that needs to change. That will change.”
