ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Drivers in Jacksonville may notice a stripe of yellow paint starting up at the base of the Acosta Bridge and stretching South down I-95 for miles on end.
The yellow line doesn't lead to the Wizard of Oz, a pot of gold or even a treasure, just an industrial park in Northern St. Johns County.
A FDOT spokesperson says no company has formally come forward to take responsibility for the paint.
Regardless, FDOT already has a crew set to go fix it.
“We’ll utilize a street sweeper with a wire brush to go over the entire stretch of the roadway where the yellow paint is to try to dislodge and loosen it up," said FDOT Spokesperson Hampton Ray.
That streetsweeper will hit the road around 11:00 p.m. Monday, but FDOT plans to keep I-95 open during the work.
Since posting the initial story, First Coast News received several comments about the impact the line has on self-driving cars and lane departure assist on newer models.
First Coast News tested it in a 2024 Subaru Crosstrek and had the lane departure beep seven times, with it taking the wheel to self-correct once.
After traveling four miles passing University Boulevard, however, the line was not quite as pronounced and didn’t impact the lane assist in our car.
“Drivers are always the ones that are responsible when they’re on the roadway," said Ray. "At this time, we want people to be aware. Drive with both hands on the wheel throughout the entire corridor.”
The sweeper will start Monday night and spend several hours going over the 20 mile stretch.
FDOT is asking drivers to give the sweeper room to let it do its thing.
It’s a temporary fix – one they know will work better on the concrete portions of the road than the asphalt.
“We’re being very thoughtful in our approach because this is something – we don’t want to have the roadway unravel or compromise the integrity of the structures themselves," said Ray.
Once it’s finished, they’ll evaluate how effectively it took the paint off before deciding if they need to pivot to another solution.