JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At 5 p.m. Thursday, the southbound lanes of Phillips Highway looked like a long two-lane parking lot, as traffic backed up at Racetrack Road, waiting for the light to change.
That happens everyday at rush hour.
The Department of Transportation has held public information sessions, wanting to hear what residents think about the state’s new proposal to fix the intersection that is driving people nuts.
"When we moved in, it wasn’t terrible," Chase Hancock referred to the traffic when he and his family moved into the Wells Creek neighborhood off Phillips Highway, just north of Racetrack Road. Three years later, with more neighborhoods and new shopping centers in the area, traffic is "every day, it's bad."
The area near the Racetrack Road and Phillips Highway intersection backs up southbound during rush hour.
And the northbound lanes on Phillips in the mornings is also chock-full.
In the morning, traffic also backs up inside Hancock's Wells Creek neighborhood because it’s so hard for him and his neighbors to turn right onto Phillips.
The DOT has graded the Racetrack and Phillips intersection as 'F', for failing.
So, it is proposing a solution that would aim to reduce congestion at the intersection.
“Right now, during peak hours, during rush hour that area is more congested," Brie Isom, public information specialist for FDOT District 2, said.
“We want to hear from the community ultimately this is impacting them," Isom said.
FDOT held a community meeting Thursday night to gather feedback from neighbors.
In the new concept, traffic will flow east and west at the same time and north and south simultaneously.
FDOT said "two phases" of traffic will help ease the traffic congestion at the intersection.
“It’s doable, it’s going to be a lot of growing pains I say that because coming from east going west you have to do U-turn just to come back going south,” Andrew Walden, a neighbor, said.
According to FDOT between 2020 and 2025 the population in St. Johns County is expected to grow by nearly $45,000 contributing to more traffic at the intersection.
FDOT is in the early stages of its plan and says it will continue to gather feedback and comments from neighbors.
“I think this is really short term," Walden said.
“The answer will probably be in 7 to 10 years. Phillips highway needs to be 6 lanes," Andy Lisella, another neighbor, said.
Thursday morning, the Wells Creek neighborhood created their own solution, hiring a person to guide traffic out of their own neighborhood onto Phillips.
"The HOA has provided funds with the city to have an off-duty officer from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. every day," Hancock explained.
It worked for Hancock and his neighbors. However, it created a massive back-up for almost everyone else south of them, including most of the people coming out of Nocatee and heading north.
It seems like a case of infrastructure not being ready for the influx of new homes and businesses and the people who come with all that.