JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Drivers said the Buckman Bridge is littered with trash, like boxes and old tires.
Brenda Mesic from Orange Park said she sees a lot of trash in the emergency lane. She was recently driving over the Buckman and said there was a considerable amount of trash on the right-hand side.
“The southbound side is horrendous,” Mesic said. “If you have an emergency and you need to get in that emergency lane, you’re taking a risk because there’s buckets, big plastic bins. On the south end of the Buckman, I saw a two-and-a-half, three-foot-long 4x4. And if you have an emergency, you’re putting your own life into risk.”
News4JAX drove the bridge and found a good amount of debris from boxes to old tires and said it was even worse days ago when she drove.
Mesic said it makes the city look trashy to tourists.
“We need to keep our city clean,” Mesic said.
In 2020, News4JAX did a story on the Buckman having a lot of trash. The Department of Transportation sent a statement:
“The Jacksonville region routinely has significantly more consumer trash and debris removed from the roadway than any other areas of the state,” the DOT said.
They said Jacksonville roads have 32% more tonnage of trash taken off local roads than greater Fort Lauderdale in Broward County.
Despite that, it comes down to motorists more than DOT, the Buckman is a road, not a dumping ground.
