Drivers dealing with traffic congestion on San Pablo Road as new school year begins

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Drivers on San Pablo Road are seeing postulation backups present that schoolhouse is backmost successful session.

A caller River City Science Academy, which is simply a charter school, opened crossed the thoroughfare from Alimacani Elementary School.

News4Jax received respective complaints astir traffic successful the country connected Monday, which was the archetypal time of school. Traffic was besides congested arsenic students were picked up connected the 2nd time of school.

“This is simply a nightmare. There should person been readying than this,” said Debra Franklin, whose grandsons be Alimacani Elementary.

Franklin said it took her astatine slightest 30 minutes to get to the schoolhouse for pickup connected Wednesday afternoon.

“I ended up parking astatine the religion and walking up due to the fact that I was ne'er going to marque it successful clip to get there,” Franklin said.

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Heather Waters, a genitor of an Alimacani Elementary student, said drop-off was difficult, arsenic well.

“This isn’t going to change. This is going to beryllium similar this for the full schoolhouse year, you tin punctuation maine connected that,” Waters said. “A precise large mess.”

She said she was successful postulation for 20 minutes connected Wednesday morning.

“What baffles maine is determination is not a idiosyncratic retired present directing that postulation for those who don’t request to spell to that school,” Waters said.

Other parents person information concerns passim adjacent communities.

“They get chopped disconnected astatine this light. They spell consecutive done these residential neighborhoods, speeding, conscionable trying to chopped through,” said genitor Amber Henderson. “Be vigilant for the children, that’s all.”

San Pablo Road betwixt Beach and Atlantic boulevards is 2 lanes, with turning lanes for some southbound and northbound postulation into Alimacani Elementary, not River City Science Academy.

In a statement, River City Science Academy Principal Megan Jackson wrote: “San Pablo should beryllium widened. Thankfully, the metropolis has plans to widen the roadworthy wrong the adjacent mates years.”

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Duval County School Board Chairwoman Elizabeth Andersen, who represents territory two, wrote: “The contented of the roadworthy capableness is truly present an contented for the metropolis and the Department of Transportation. The territory is consenting to spouse arsenic appropriate, but roadworthy and postulation issues caused by charter schools are not thing our section schoolhouse committee tin address.”

According to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, reconstruction of the existing roadway from a two-lane to a three-lane roadworthy volition statesman aboriginal this autumn with an 18- to 20-month operation timeline.

“They request to program for amended than this and get implicit present and bash thing astir it,” Franklin said.

The metropolis told News4Jax that it is alert of the congestion and volition show the concern successful the coming days. The bureau of Jacksonville City Councilman Aaron Bowman, who represents the country wherever the schools are located, said it has received complaints and volition conscionable to sermon plans to code the congestion.

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While schoolhouse commencement times are staggered, dismissal times are lone astir 15 minutes apart.

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