Phase 2 of State Road 9B nearly ready for drivers

A new route to avoid some of the congestion on Interstate 95 is just days from opening.

The Action News Jax Skyvision drone on Wednesday captured the next phase of State Road 9B.

The Florida Department of Transportation said the new road will save drivers time, cut down on gas costs and most importantly cut down on the headaches of getting across town.

This is the second big portion of the expansion of 9B that crosses I-95 into northern St. Johns County.

Action News Jax’s Deanna Bettineschi got an exclusive look at the new span.

The new section cost $95 million and FDOT said the construction is on schedule. The northbound side will be open in about a week, the road closed signs will be moved and the southbound side will opened this weekend.

It’s a project that’s been in the making for more than two-and-a-half years. State Road 9B phase two is in its final stages before part of it opens this weekend. The road spans from Philips Highway to I-95 in northern St. Johns County.

“9B Phase 2 started in October 2013 and is set to open Saturday night,” said Debbie Delgado of FDOT.

The road was built to alleviate congestion near I-295 and I-95.

Action News Jax, the only local station with FAA approval to operate a drone as part of our news coverage, used Skyvision Action News Jax back in December to show you the road under construction. We used it again Wednesday to get a birds’ eye view of the almost completed project. Drivers say they can’t wait to use it.

“I think it will help a lot with the folks coming from Jacksonville Beach coming to our county for work,” said driver Jeff Scott.

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We timed how long it takes in the afternoon to go from I-295 near 9B, down to the I-95 interchange, down to northern St. Johns County. It took a little more than 7 minutes.

Then we timed how long it took to get from 9B’s new Phase 2 starting at Philips Highway. To get to that same point on I-95 in St. Johns County. That took 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

“9B has already helped significantly ‘cause now I can dodge 95 all together,” Scott said.

While Phase 2 is almost complete, there’s still Phase 3, which is still under construction

133 “For Phase 3 9B, connecting 95 to St. Johns County 2209, there’s going to be a Race Track Road connector called Peyton Parkway

It’s a more than $79 million project set to be completed in 2018. Drivers say they’re excited to see progress on both Phase 3, and Phase 2 that will soon be open.

There will be some detours that drivers will have to lookout for Saturday and Sunday night. Click here for more information on those detours.

Cox Media Group