The new school year raised some traffic questions for Beachside High School parents and students traveling to school in the mornings.
There was a large amount of congestion along Country Road 210 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. according to the St. Johns County official Facebook page and it led to lengthy backups and resulted in people being late to school and work as a result.
However, as of Aug. 31 a new temporary traffic route has been put into effect, which will now direct traffic traveling east on County Road 210 to the eastern intersection of the road and Beachwalk Boulevard.
This temporary solution to the problem is only in place during the morning Beachside High drop-off hours and will not be necessary at school dismissal times.
According to the county, the route change is intended to move traffic more efficiently and safely through the area while also reducing backups.
Coinciding with the new traffic pattern, Beachside High also sent out a notice to parents of the school informing them that start, and dismissal times had also been adapted to help reduce the traffic.
Due to the traffic pattern being temporary, a more concrete future plan is still being devised, including St. Johns County public works planning to re-time the traffic signals along County Road 210 with the increased traffic flow at those times in mind.
Despite the temporary solution, it is the result of a more long-term issue and one that according to the county, they are working out with the developer of the Beachwalk community, Twin Creeks Developer.
The county states that during the past year and a half, the county has been holding firm on enforcing the developer’s obligations, which requires them to widen County Road 210 east from two lanes to four lanes to accommodate the traffic increase.
On May 2, as the last resort to enforce the developer’s road widening obligations, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners gave the county attorney authority to take the necessary legal action against the developer to meet their obligations.
The County is proceeding to take over control of the construction because of the issues that have arisen with the developer. However, the county expects the developer to be held accountable for the costs.
The developer will be held accountable for the costs. According to the county, the project will be advertised for bid this month with a completion date estimated to be 18 months from the date of the contract execution.
