Clay county, the worst commute in the entire state? Check it out... (Jacksonville: houses)

[riveree]

Just came across this article, it's well worth the read.

I knew Clay had some traffic problems, but I didn't realize it was this bad. Looks like the debate over which county has the worst traffic problem has been put to rest :

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...11753842.shtml

[mawipafl]

As a resident of Clay County, that article rankles me a bit. Yes, the traffic on Blanding and 17 can be thick, but honestly I found I-4 in and around Orlando more of a huge nightmare. Personally, I would rather deal with a 25-mile commute that takes 35 minutes from Clay to Westside than a 10-mile commute that takes 30 minutes in Orlando.

The essence of the article is that Clay doesn't have the industries and businesses (ie the high-paying employers), so Clay residents must drive to Duval. Obviously: longer distance, longer commute. I'm not going to downplay the traffic, but I strongly think the study is a little skewed IMHO :-)

Thanks for the article riveree! Definitely worth reading!

[mawipafl]

I'll preface by saying that I think it's fantastic that each of us feels our choice of home location is best. That's why househunting in the Jacksonville area can be such a task! Every area has its "pros" and "cons", and choosing where to live is definitively a personal preference.

Here's another traffic bottleneck I found: Salisbury/Belfort/Skinner/JTB. Silly me decided to check out the dog park on Salisbury just before 5 pm on a Thursday. Getting there was a breeze, but getting out was not happening - I sat through four light changes at Skinner and Belfort. So, I pulled out my handydandy map and worked my way east on Skinner to Southside, jumped on JTB east, and got off on 9A and headed south. Oh so what that I went around my elbow to get to my thumb - much better than sitting still.

Arriving at US 17 at the thick of things, I got around that, too, by going left on Old Orange Park to Eldridge to River Road and meandering along the gorgeous St Johns River until Kingsley where I got back on 17 having not only bypassed the bulk of the traffic, but also finding the river's viewnery a wonderful aggravation eliminator.

Moral of my story: one can let traffic snarls create a raving lunatic OR one can find alternative roadways.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

The essence of the article is that Clay doesn't have the industries and businesses (ie the high-paying employers), so Clay residents must drive to Duval. Obviously: longer distance, longer commute. I'm not going to downplay the traffic, but I strongly think the study is a little skewed IMHO :-)

Yeah, the focus was on Clay because of the statistic results, but the article also mentioned the future issues St. Johns will face.

Years back, there was a lot of local discussion about "The Doughnut Hole". There were concerns that with all the new development in Clay and St. Johns that everyone would move out of Jax and just commute in to work.

Though we have plenty of people who commute in to Jax for work each day, 'The Doughnut Hole' hasn't happened - the density seems to be increasing all around - Duval, Clay, St. Johns, even Nassau.

I was suprised too to see Clay as #1 in Florida, but maybe it will be the push Clay county government needs to focus on their transportation issues.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

I'll preface by saying that I think it's fantastic that each of us feels our choice of home location is best. That's why househunting in the Jacksonville area can be such a task! Every area has its "pros" and "cons", and choosing where to live is definitively a personal preference.

Here's another traffic bottleneck I found: Salisbury/Belfort/Skinner/JTB. Silly me decided to check out the dog park on Salisbury just before 5 pm on a Thursday. Getting there was a breeze, but getting out was not happening - I sat through four light changes at Skinner and Belfort. So, I pulled out my handydandy map and worked my way east on Skinner to Southside, jumped on JTB east, and got off on 9A and headed south. Oh so what that I went around my elbow to get to my thumb - much better than sitting still.

Arriving at US 17 at the thick of things, I got around that, too, by going left on Old Orange Park to Eldridge to River Road and meandering along the gorgeous St Johns River until Kingsley where I got back on 17 having not only bypassed the bulk of the traffic, but also finding the river's viewnery a wonderful aggravation eliminator.

Moral of my story: one can let traffic snarls create a raving lunatic OR one can find alternative roadways.

Ha! Salisbury/Belfort/Skinner/JTB - yikes! - you were in the middle of it all at 5pm! You were in the heart of Southpoint/Deerwood Park/Baymeadows where tons of people work each day !

9A is great for situations just like you describe - it often is faster than a straight line . I do the same shortcut in Orange Park that you do, along the river out by Moosehaven .

I think design is a big part of the traffic issues in Clay though. Some of that can be corrected, I would think, but I don't know what can be done about other parts.

We had to travel on Blanding out to Middleburg not long ago - not a drive I do very often - and I was just amazed at how many people travel on this road (and this was a sleepy, late Sunday afternoon ) and there is no center turning lane or breakdown lanes......people who have to regularly travel on that road need some relief, there definitely needs to be an alternate route .

[mawipafl]

Design is completely the issue. You hit the nail right on the head riveree. First, both Blanding and 17 allow too many un-signaled crossovers (Blanding worse than 17) as does 220 -- there are accidents all the time. Second, when there are turn lanes, they're either too short or have no center median so that they're built for both directions -- more accident scenes. Thirdly, too many curb cuts are another design flaw so that drivers aren't forced to use traffic signal intersections. One almost has to be a bobble head to keep track of cars coming and going. Lastly, some of the timing of lights is way off, and people know it, so they run red lights to avoid sitting there until the next light change.

Having a first place designation will hopefully spur Clay County to do something. Just widening 17 over Doctors Lake doesn't help anything at all other than give the Holly Point residents a real traffic signal to get out of their neighborhood (the bridge widening project is just starting and will take ... arg ... three years to complete.)

Skinner is an interesting roadway. But I'll bet they wished they had made it wider once that area is built up as it appears it will be sometime in the future.

Hey, if I ever discover a razzledazzle bypass to Blanding et al, I'll be sure to post it here!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

Lastly, some of the timing of lights is way off, and people know it, so they run red lights to avoid sitting there until the next light change.

You can probably call someone about that. There have been a lot of new traffic lights installed in my area, and they're not always initially set up for the traffic flow they'll be serving. When a light has been too short or too long of a wait, I 've called the city and explained the issue......amazingly, they've been corrected shortly thereafter . I have to drive on these roads, I want them working at their optimum .

[titaniummd]

The roads are not organized well and there is no mass transit available (that I know of, at least):

Traffic lights need to be coordinated and synchronized - maybe even with a sensor. Even outside of rush hour it seems like you hit every single red light as you are going down the streets...hence the red light runners.

Even on 17 North coming out of Fleming Island, the right lane becomes the 'left lane equivalent' with the faster cars staying in the right lane to merge with the rest of the traffic (when it goes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes).
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A lot of $400k+ houses are in Orange Park (Argyle, Oakleaf, Fleming Island, Magnolia Point), and that comment about commuting to Duval is a valid point (you can't live in a 1/2 million dollar house working at Publix). Clay Co is the commuter living community, I suppose.