ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – For more than 15 years, James Williams and his wife have been driving from Gainesville to fish near the Shands Bridge.
In fact, he drove there on Monday and was seen pulling in mullets by the dozens from the St. Johns River.
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“There’s a lot of fish in here,” Williams told News4JAX.
Right behind where he was fishing was the start of something new.
Construction at the Shands Bridge has officially started as the third and last phase of the First Coast Expressway project begins taking shape.
The old Shands Bridge will be replaced by a $595-million bridge that will look similar to the Buckman Bridge.
“I think it’s going to be great,” Williams said.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, some parts of the bridge will be demolished, while others will remain accessible for pedestrian use and fishing.
The parts still left for walking and fishing can be seen in the renderings for the massive bridge.
FDOT said St. Johns County and Clay County will upkeep the remaining sections, and FDOT will throw in some lighting.
“As people are driving over the Shands Bridge, in the next several months, throughout the rest of this year, they will start seeing this big bridge structure, kind of rising out of the water, because the new bridge is going to be 65 feet of vertical clearance, compared to 45 feet on the existing Shands Bridge,” Sara Pleasants, with FDOT, said.
Williams said he will be glad when the project is finished.
“Because, in the morning time, sometimes we come early in the morning, and it’s a lot of traveling on this road, and it’s hard getting turned in here,” Williams said.
The good news is, Williams and other fishermen won’t have to find a new honey hole during the construction.
“Hope so, because there’s some good fish in here,” Williams said.
The project is expected to follow a five-year timeline, with completion aimed for 2030.
