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Amelia Island Gridlock: Parkway Closure Sparks Island-Wide Traffic Nightmare
FERNANDINA BEACH - Every morning and late afternoon Krissi Barr watches from her third-floor perch as the intersection of Bill Melton Road and Fletcher Avenue becomes clogged with traffic and impatient drivers throw caution to the wind.
Some cars drive on her lawn on Bill Melton to bypass those in front of them to jockey into better position. During rush hour, others lean on their car's horns, frustrated by the snail's pace of backlogged vehicles.
"It's like living in downtown Manhattan. The horns blare at all hours of the day," Barr commented as she watched the daily maneuvering from her balcony on Friday.
Other drivers screamed insults at her as they pass by her home.
The situation is so perilous, that Barr has taken to carrying a handheld "stop sign" like a school crossing guard when she walks across Fletcher Avenue to the beach.
"My friends think I'm crazy," she admits. "But I'm not taking any chances."
The closure of Amelia Island Parkway by the city airport during construction of the Buccaneer Trail roundabout has put all north/south traffic onto Fletcher Avenue. Drivers trying to avoid the re-routing are using Bill Melton/Via Del Ray Road to cut through to Amelia Island Parkway in an effort to save time.
The speed limit on Via Del Ray Road is 20 mph, however, residents report cars motoring 30-to-35 mph on the narrow two land road.
Tyler Kane responded "It’s honestly very, very simple. The people in charge of making the decision to have all this construction done during the island's busy season do not live here and don’t have to drive through all this road work. They don’t get inconvenienced by it at all so they literally do not care at all about how it affects the people that live here. No one ever cares about a problem as long as it doesn’t affect them personally."
A 10-minute commute from her home at Parkside North near the city airport to the YMCA off of Citrona now takes Shari Roan 30 minutes. Thursday at 9:30 a.m. traveling north via Fletcher, Roan encountered garbage pickup day and was stuck behind a Waste Management collection truck.
Obviously, that didn't happen last Thursday.
The first problem was the traffic light at Amelia Island Parkway and South Fletcher Avenue, which had not been adjusted to handle the increased north and south traffic on Fletcher. The result was traffic at a standstill, especially on the south end of the island.
But even initial adjustments haven't solved the problem.
Additional detour signage will be installed at the AIP/Fletcher intersection and at Bill Melton/Fletcher to better guide motorists to continue along the planned detour route.
Please do not use Bill Melton from Fletcher unless you are local traffic only. For example, if you are visiting the Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course or live/work in the Via Del Rey/Bill Melton/1st Avenue area.
For through traffic, please continue along Fletcher to the Sadler Road roundabout as the primary detour route. If your trip qualifies as local traffic near Simmons Road, that route may also apply."
But those measures have not provided solutions to the delays caused by the closure.
"Twenty-five minutes from Harris Teeter to the light at the parkway by the Ritz with Fletcher backed up as far as we can see. This is ridiculous!!!!," Susie Sanders Birdwell reported on Friday in a post that drew 70 comments detailing other commuters' frustrations with delays.
When asked about what changes the county planned to ease congestion, Communications Officer Sabrina Robertson said "Please note that traffic counters were put in place at the beginning of the week, with the intention to make adjustments to the traffic light at South Fletcher and Buccaneer Trail. Those are being removed today. Based on the data collected, additional adjustments may be made as needed.
Comments
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Greperkins
Dear Neighbors,
I know many of us are feeling the frustration of this traffic circle construction— the noise, the delays, the added congestion on our already limited island roadways. It’s disruptive, and it’s completely understandable to feel impatient when daily life is impacted this way.
At the same time, I’m grateful this much-needed improvement is finally happening. A well-designed traffic circle will ultimately ease the bottlenecks we’ve all been navigating for years and make our community safer and more efficient for everyone.
That said, I believe we deserve better than the current pace. A project with this level of impact on our daily lives warrants maximum urgency and attention. If the county required the contractor to run two or three shifts—working up to 20 hours a day—we could dramatically shorten the disruption and get back to normal much sooner.
I hope our local leaders hear our collective voice on this. We support the project wholeheartedly, but we also ask for the same level of commitment and resources to complete it as quickly and considerately as possible.
Saturday, April 4 Report this
PaulaM
Wait until schools let out and summer season begins…
Sunday, April 5 Report this
FunnyGirl4615
Thank you, Mike, for this very important article on the mess endured in the name of "progress"! This was never needed in our Amelia City neighborhood. Everything was just fine. Hopefully folks who don't need to visit or use services in this area will think twice about traveling down here if not necessary. That would help the rest of us out a lot! County says this nightmare will end in May. My friends on Chester Road disagree.
Sunday, April 5 Report this
DouglasM
I doubt there isn't a single person on the island who didn't see this disaster coming when it was announced.
Sunday, April 5 Report this
Sfletcher
I have written to the Mayor, the Sheriff, Tim Poynter, and Jeff gray describing the current traffic conditions as UNSAFE AND INTOLERABLE. And suggested alternatives: round the clock construction; traffic control officers; open and close one lane on AI parkway as was done in S Fletcher for the last several months - all no avail. Nor have I had any response from any of my representatives. Seriously, no one can figure out a solution!???? Where are our representatives when we need them???
Sunday, April 5 Report this
RobertR
If the County Road Dept. or the County Commissioners in general gave a dam about Amelia Island residents this project would have been properly bid. i.e. three shifts, no stop in construction short of a severe weather delay. Instead we have a "fair weather" contractor who's not made deadlines, works where ever the spirit moves them and so here we are. When I learned of this project several months ago I reached out and was told, "we've got this Project....we will be complete by April 27th" Given the rate work has progressed I do not see that happening. Signage? That was non existent other then on a "traffic plan." It was after people along Bill Melton hit the roof that anything was done. i.e. zero planning reactionary fix.
Along with my continued inquiry of where the hell $8 million a year is going from the Bed Tax, the "tude" is getting very old. I hate to say it but the Amelia Island Beaches is the draw here not Wildlight, not the baseball or soccer fields off island. Me, I'm way past tired of elected officials BS, "what the problem"? The problem once again, mismanagement or better yet, no management.
Sunday, April 5 Report this
Sfletcher
And now we hear that the construction crew cut an Xfinity cable during construction late last week and the Xfinity clients lost internet and tv for a day! In today’s age how does that happen?? Add to that a serious car/ bike accident on S Fletcher - this situation keeps getting Worse and needs IMMEDIATE ATTENTION from our representatives.
Monday, April 6 Report this
Kelprod
Seems to be an extremely poorly thought out plan by the county. As such, maybe have 24/7 county sheriff presence directing traffic until the project is completed. I am avoiding the south end of the island entirely.
Monday, April 6 Report this
MrButtons
Railroads and highways build a "shoo fly" around construction or dirupted passages. Obviously should have been done on Amelial pkwy even if it went into the golf course temporalily.
Wednesday, April 8 Report this
RevLorraine
Hearing that Genece Minshew successfully had traffic rerouted around her neighborhood. How convenient, Commish!
Thursday, April 9 Report this