NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Neighbors in Nassau County tell Action News Jax they’ve had to replace their car’s windshields multiple times now after rocks from the road cracked the glass.
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Tracie McCann, who’s lived in Yulee for 16 years, says the road is in ‘horrendous’ condition.
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“I’m just fed up with it, I’m just ready to have something done about it,” McCann says.
Just days after getting her new car, McCann says she took a drive down A1A near the bridge between Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island with her husband and heard the windshield crack.
“My heart sank,” says McCann, “my husband said it was just a bug but I knew it wasn’t, I knew by the sound of it.”
McCann’s windshield now has a crack in it, from what she believes was a rock on the road kicked up by another car. It’s her fourth windshield that’s been cracked after driving down the road. McCann says she had to replace the last three and, now, it’s back to square one.
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“This is a new car. I’ve had enough. I’m just done,” McCann says.
The part of A1A causing problems for people is mostly unpaved, starting right after Old Nassauville Road up until the bridge over Amelia Island, right past Shucker’s Oyster Bar and Grill.
It’s an area FDOT data shows 49,000 cars drive on each day, with the unpaved section lasting more than a mile.
For McCann and the many other neighbors who tell Action News Jax they’ve had car troubles from the road, it’s not an area they can avoid.
“You’re stuck on this road, there’s no ifs, ands or buts, this is the route you have to take going to and from the island,” says McCann.
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Since A1A is a state road, Nassau County officials tell Action News Jax they’re not within their rights to address the concerns. Right now, FDOT doesn’t have any planned projects to fix this part of the road. Action News Jax reached out to FDOT to see if the department is aware of these concerns, but we’re still waiting to hear back.
McCann says something needs to be done.
“It totally needs to be repaved,” McCann says, “this place hasn’t been patched up at all since I’ve lived here.”
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FDOT has a website to file a damage claim for those who’ve had car damage while driving down a state road. You can find the site at the link here.
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