US 17 Roosevelt Blvd.

[leewatson83]

Do anyone think US 17 should have been built as a Limited Controlled (Freeway) Highway on the west side of Jax down to Orange Park?    With exits at San Juan Ave, Timuquana Road, and the three exits for NAS Jax with access roads.

[iMarvin]

I do. But instead of just Orange Park, all the way down to Green Cove Springs. I look at maps of Jacksonville and always thought that should've been a freeway. It would probably be similar to Butler Blvd.

[Timkin]

Well.. while I agree with the above posts , it and US 1 were the main thoroughfares through Jacksonville.. Especially the part North of where 295 now is  was ahead of it's time.. From Palatka to OP it was at one time just single lane North and South ..   at least 2 lane from NAS property on North..


I bet many of you did not know that at one time , there was a canal where much of Roosevelt Blvd now runs, particularly in the Venetia/ Ortega area. 

[jandar]

It is too old of a road and grew with the expansion of housing. There was no master plan for it like many US roads throughout the US.

Heck Timkin, I can remember going out to Whitey's fishcamp was an adventure itself with the narrow 2 lane roads and such. It was truly the country.
My father in law can tell you about going across the old wooden Shands bridge on a school bus. (The current shands pier)

[Timkin]

the Wooden Shands was closed around the time I came into the world. 

I presume your father in law is from that area ??

[Trainman]

My father was born in Green Cove Spgs and told me he remembers the Hwy 17 bridge across Black Creek was a narrow swing bridge. There was a bridge tender's house and to open the bridge for boat traffic, a man came out with a large "t" handle, inserted it into a gear box in the bridge deck and would walk in a circle with the handle to open and close the bridge. Basically a one "manpower" bridge!

[Timkin]

My father was born in Green Cove Spgs and told me he remembers the Hwy 17 bridge across Black Creek was a narrow swing bridge. There was a bridge tender's house and to open the bridge for boat traffic, a man came out with a large "t" handle, inserted it into a gear box in the bridge deck and would walk in a circle with the handle to open and close the bridge. Basically a one "manpower" bridge!

If that is the Bridge I recall, Trainman, It was a Turnstile Bridge.. there was one at  Black Creek and one nearly identical over the Doctor's Lake Crossing.. it was around 1971 that both of those bridges, and the Wooden Bridge that Crossed Governor's Creek in Green Cove Springs , was replaced ,simultaneously .

[ricker]

While I do have fond memories  spending summers in Doctors Inlet with my family between farms on Black Creek and near DrsLake
My grandmother predates any bridge over swimming pen creek at Whitey's as she is one of only two individuals to have operated the small old post office (originally by the rail where the mail bag would have to hoisted up onto a swing arm to be snagged by the next passing train- this building has since been relocated to the D I Elementary campus on CR220. ) 

Their sometimes daily 'sojourns' to and from Jacksonville took the path of Old Hard Road, Harmony Hall, near the Huntley's silos, Kingsley north of Astor place and East Holly Point slough, to connect with River Road through Camp Johnston and Ortega to St.JohnsAvenue.
AND/OR later, 224 College Dr to Moody to Kingsley.

A liberated woman, and college grad working for an aircraft designer at the time, her telling of it is that the road (US17) was built for THE war (WWII).

Interesting to me, as generations of family have lived both in the city and out, once Blanding was paved, the LakeShore arches were widely refered to as the city gates.

Today, it would be awesome to see Roosevelt's Blvd and the accompanying ROW finally mature to serve commuter rail and better connect and further mark and identify the districts its construction divided. 
The resident bicyclists and peds play frogger daily just to carryout any typical household chore.
FWIW
IMHO