GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — A room full of fingers tracing lines on maps as drivers try to figure out how the new stretch of the First Coast Expressway is going to impact their commutes.
Florida Department of Transportation leaders held a town hall with residents from Clay County and St. Johns County, to discuss the third and final leg of the First Coast Expressway as construction gets under way.
"I'm just interested to see exactly where it was going to go, what the timing was going to be and how it might affect us over the next few years," said Tim Long, who lives along the St. Johns River in St. Johns County.
Long's commute is on the brink of drastically changing.
The next chunk of the First Coast Expressway will run right past his neighborhood.
The third phase of the expressway will cost just under $600 million and connect Clay County and St. Johns County.
It's highlighted by a four-lane bridge that will go in just south of the Shands Bridge and replace it.
That bridge will connect to a new road running from state Road 16 to Interstate 95.
"I guess it's inevitable with the growth of St. Johns County in particular," said Long. "Right now, we see the traffic coming across the two lane bridge, and it's a lot, morning and evening."
The First Coast Expressway will eventually provide another connection from I-95 up to Interstate 10, running up the westside of the St. Johns River.
The Duval County portion was finished in 2019, the Clay County chunk is on schedule to wrap up in 2025, and the St. Johns portion including the new bridge, is just getting started and should be done by 2030.
A FDOT spokesperson says drivers might start seeing construction work in the water start by the end of the year.
"At least for the rest of this year, we don't anticipate really, just minimal impacts to traffic," said FDOT Community Outreach Specialist Sara Pleasants. "Nothing that's going to close lanes or back up traffic."
Long got some questions answered, but is still mentally preparing himself for what's to come.
"If they could snap their fingers and it would be done, I think it's going to be great," said Long. "I think the next few years might be a little challenging."