JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA is going to start raising the power lines over the St. Johns River near Blount Island Terminal this summer to allow taller and larger ships to get into JaxPort safely.
But the project will cause some traffic headaches for neighborhoods in the area as construction crews move their equipment back and forth.
Drivers in the Beacon Hills and Harbour area, St. Johns Landing and Hidden Hills neighborhoods could experience traffic congestion, delays and detours.
JEA says it is making adjustments for getting the bigger equipment to the Reed Island worksite to help offset the traffic issues.
JEA is planning to raise six transmission lines that cross the St. Johns River at the Fulton Cut from 175 feet to 225 feet. The lines stretch from Blount Island on the north side of the river to Fort Caroline on the river’s south side.
The project will allow bigger and taller ships to go in and out of JaxPort, which is Florida’s largest container port.
JEA says more ships going through, means more jobs are created. Raising the transmission lines also forces JEA to upgrade its electric grid to make it more reliable and last longer.
JEA’s public information officer, Karen McAllister, said it will be a two-year project.
“But that does not mean that there will be construction traffic for two years,” McAllister said. “It will be a start and stop kind of thing. It will not be steady construction traffic for two years.”
Because traffic backups can occur when workers start traveling back and forth to the work site, McAllister said crews are adjusting their approach.
“The cranes and big equipment will be transported to the site through barges and helicopters,” she said. “There will be construction vehicles traveling through the Beacon Hills and St. Johns Landing neighborhoods, but they will be restricted to work crews, material delivery and construction equipment.”
JEA and JaxPort held an Open House meeting and presentation on March 6 for the public at the Police Athletic League building on Monument Road.
The truck route construction crews are expected to take to get to their work site starts on Monument Road.
They will go through neighborhoods, including streets like Kingsley Manor Way before ultimately reaching Reed Island, which is the work area.
JEA says it will be posting signs around those neighborhoods to let people know of the crews coming through.
The work is expected to start this July.
The entire project should be done by the summer of 2027.