ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — St. Johns County leaders are taking action on a road project that they said was never finished by one developer.
That project was to widen County Road 210. The failure to do so has caused a traffic mess for everyone in the area, especially those attending and working at Beachside High School.
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At a St. Johns County Commission meeting on Tuesday morning, county leaders gave a public infrastructure update and said they want to deliver this project as fast as possible.
“This is really a developers project, and it is really required by the Twin Creeks development obligation,” Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews said.
Andrews said the county has had a number of meetings with the developer, which the county maintains was obligated to complete this project but failed to do so.
Read: Beachside High School delays start time due to traffic problem
Now that school is back in session for students at Beachside High School, it’s a traffic nightmare.
“It is really a huge frustration for the people that live in the area, and it is a critical corridor intersection of 95 and 210,” Andrews said.
When Action News Jax reached out to the developer’s president, he vigorously disputed the claim the county made and said he plans to provide proof of this very soon.
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Meanwhile, the Beachside High School principal said in an email to students’ families the school is being forced to push back the start time for classes from 9:20 to 9:35 a.m.
School leaders said it’s all due to the roadwork issues.
While school start time is pushed back 15 minutes, the county is already working to add traffic signals at Cumberland Park Drive and CR 210. That will help reduce some traffic delays until the full roadway is complete.
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“Really the solution is widening the whole road altogether,” Andrews said.
Once construction starts on the road widening project, it will take about a year and a half to finish.
County leaders said they will hold the developer accountable for all costs. The project’s total cost is about $12.5 million.
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