State Road 23 (SR 23), also known as the First Coast Expressway, is a controlled-access toll road serving as an outer bypass around the southwest quadrant of Jacksonville, Florida. As of 2024[update], the first phase has been built, linking Interstate 10 (I-10) near Whitehouse with SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard) in the Middleburg area. The second phase to Green Cove Springs is currently under construction, and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.
  State Road 23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branan Field Road Cecil Commerce Center Parkway First Coast Expressway | ||||
 Completed section of SR 23 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise | ||||
| Length | 11.395 mi[1] (18.338 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  SR 21 near Middleburg | |||
| North end |   I-10 / US 90 in Jacksonville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Florida | |||
| Counties | Clay, Duval | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
The ultimate plan is for a 46.5-mile (74.8 km) four-lane controlled-access, electronically-tolled highway between I-10 and I-95. The total investment for the entire highway is estimated at $2 billion. Construction of the final section began 2024 and is expected to be completed by 2032. It extends from near Green Cove Springs, crosses the St. Johns River, then continues east through fast-growing northern St. Johns County to a point approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of the World Golf Village interchange along I-95.
Route description
editThe First Coast Expressway begins at an interchange with US Highway 90 (US 90, Beaver Street). Shortly after, the expressway heads southbound towards a cloverstack interchange with I-10. Following the major interchange, the freeway widens to two lanes and continues south towards interchanges with POW-MIA Memorial Highway and SR 134 (103rd Street), providing access to the nearby Cecil Field. The highway continues through the suburban outskirts of Jacksonville before crossing into Clay County following the interchange with Argyle Forest Boulevard/Oakleaf Plantation Parkway. The expressway follows a pair of frontage roads from the second interchange with Oakleaf Plantation until the half-diamond interchange with Old Jennings Road. The highway continues for roughly a mile (1.6 km), passing by St. Vincent's Hospital, until it reaches its current southern terminus at SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard) near Middleburg.
History
edit
The plans for connecting I-10 to SR 21 (Blanding Blvd) date back to 1979. SR 23 was originally planned as a toll road by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise to meet those plans, but those plans fell through in 1997.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority and Clay County worked together to connect Branan Field Road in Clay County and Chaffee Road in Duval County. By 2003, the Duval County section was open, and connected south to Branan Field Road in Clay County. By late 2004, the Clay County section was added. Currently the entire route stretches from I-10 in Jacksonville to SR 21 (Blanding Blvd) in Middleburg.
The project was formerly known as the First Coast Outer Beltway and the Branan Field-Chaffee Expressway, but its current name is the First Coast Expressway.
Future
editThe partial outer beltway when finished will contain 17 interchanges and a new bridge across the St. Johns River in place of the current two-lane Shands Bridge.[2]
Funding
editFunding for the $1.8 billion project will be competitively bid as a public-private partnership (PPP) opportunity for private sector businesses. By using a PPP and innovative contracting solutions, the project will be built years earlier than with traditional contracting methods. The awarded contractor(s) will serve as the concessionaire to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the beltway. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is currently engaging private contractors in a competitive bidding process. The I-595 Corridor Express PPP with I-595 Express LLC was the first of its kind in Florida, opening years ahead of schedule.[3] The beltway is the one of largest public infrastructure projects to be undertaken in Northeast Florida.
In early 2011, FDOT abandoned the plan to find a private company to build the entire 46.6-mile (75.0 km) beltway and just focus on building the 15 mile section between I-10 and SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard). This section is partly built and would need flyovers built and widening done for the expressway to be complete. It is expected to cost around $291 million and would be a tollway.[4]
In August 2011, FDOT announced that the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise will be taking on the $291 million project of turning the 15-mile (24 km) stretch into a tollway.[5] Construction started on September 10, 2012, and was completed in 2017.
Construction on the second phase of the expressway, from SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard) to Green Cove Springs started in October 2019 and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. The third and final phase of the project, which includes replacement of the Shands Bridge, started in May 2023 and will be completed in 2031.[6] Bridge construction will begin in 2024. Construction on the segment between County Road 16A (CR 16A) to St. Johns Parkway (CR 2209) is expected to start in early 2025, and from St. Johns Parkway to I-95 in late 2025.
Tolling
editAll tolls are electronic and compatible with SunPass used in other parts of the state with no toll booths. There is a free section between US 90 and New World Avenue which helps promote growth in the Cecil Commerce Center, and the future Shands Bridge crossing the St. Johns River will be free as well.[7]
Major intersections
editTolls are collected between each exit south of exit 42.[8]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Johns | | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |  I-95 – Jacksonville, Daytona Beach | Future interchange and future southern terminus; I-95 future exit 326 |
| SilverLeaf Plantation | 2.5 | 4.0 | 3 |  CR 2209 (St. Johns Parkway) | Future planned interchange | |
| | 6.9 | 11.1 | 6 |     To CR 16A / CR 210 / CR 244 (Longleaf Pine Parkway) | Future planned interchange | |
| St. Johns River | 9.5 | 15.3 | Shands Bridge | |||
| Clay | | 10.6 | 17.1 | 10 |  SR 16 – Green Cove Springs | Future planned partial interchange (northbound exit and southbound entrance) |
| | 13.0 | 20.9 | 13 |  US 17 – Palatka, Green Cove Springs | Future planned interchange | |
| | 20.0 | 32.2 | 20 | SR 16 – Penney Farms, Green Cove Springs | Future planned interchange; diverging diamond interchange | |
| | 24.0 | 38.6 | 24 |  To CR 218 | Future planned interchange; diverging diamond interchange | |
| Lake Asbury | 27.6 | 44.4 | 28 |  CR 739 (Henley Road) | Future planned interchange; diverging diamond interchange | |
| | 30.9 | 49.7 | 31 | SR 21 (Blanding Boulevard) – Middleburg, Orange Park | Current southern terminus | |
| | 32.1 | 51.7 | 32 |  CR 220A (Old Jennings Road) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern terminus of frontage roads | |
| OakLeaf Plantation | 34.5 | 55.5 | 35 | Oakleaf Plantation Parkway / Discovery Drive | Partial diverging diamond interchange; northern terminus of frontage roads | |
| 35.4 | 57.0 | Plantation Oaks Boulevard | Former at-grade intersection | |||
| Duval | 37.1 | 59.7 | 37 | Argyle Forest Boulevard / Oakleaf Plantation Parkway | Single point urban interchange | |
| Jacksonville | 40.7 | 65.5 | 41 |  SR 134 (103rd Street) – Macclenny | ||
| 36.9 | 59.4 | Chaffee Road (CR 115C north) | Southern terminus of CR 115C | |||
| 42.1 | 67.8 | 42 |  SR 228 (Normandy Boulevard) – FSCJ Cecil Center, Cecil Field, Equestrian Center | |||
| 43.5 | 70.0 | 44 | POW-MIA Memorial Parkway – FSCJ Cecil Center, Cecil Field, Equestrian Center | |||
| 45.6 | 73.4 | 46 |   I-10 to I-295 / I-95 – Jacksonville, Lake City | I-10 exit 350, signed as exits 46A (east) and 46B (west) | ||
| 46.6 | 75.0 | US 90 – Baldwin, Whitehouse | Current northern terminus | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
References
edit- ^ a b FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "First Coast Outer Beltway plan sheets" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ "Crist touts outer beltway in Clay County speech". Clay Today. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
- ^ Hannan, Larry (August 15, 2011). "State to make announcement on Outer Beltway". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ Hannan, Larry. "Outer Beltway: $2.25 estimated cost to drive from I-10 to Blanding". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
- ^ "Residents get sneak peek of future Shands Bridge". June 2023.
- ^ "Outer Beltway around Cecil Commerce Center will not be tolled". Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
- ^ "Get ready to pay tolls on First Coast Expressway". June 11, 2019.