Monday's commute through Downtown Jacksonville was an exercise in detours as drivers faced three new road and building renovation projects.
The biggest will detour traffic for months around the old home of the Jacksonville Landing, soon to be the home of Downtown's newest park.
Then comes a temporary detour to lay public utilities under a stretch of East Bay Street, and drivers also face a northward wiggle on East Forsyth Street so the historic 96-year-old Florida Theatre can get a facelift inside.
Theatre spokeswoman Beth Carper said the lane shift in front of the theatre's marquee is to make room for a huge Dumpster and scaffolding needed for the $8 million of renovations, begun after Dave Koz and his Summer Horns Tour left the stage on June 30.
"The Dumpster is where we put garbage," Carper said in an email response to questions about the rerouted road. "The lane shift was required by the city. And it will be that way until we’re done in early October."
The theatre has gone dark for four months as renovations kick off, including repairs to flaking decorative plaster and repainting the auditorium and lobbies, theatre President
Numa Saisselin said. The work will also include replacing the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and renovating all public restrooms. The theatre's main electrical system will be moved from the first to third floor for safety from any possible flooding. That also clears the way for a future expansion of the entry lobby.
The project is slated to go through Oct. 28, building on top of $15 million in earlier renovations over the last four years.
Elsewhere on Monday, the first phase of the Riverfront Plaza construction began on the former site of the Jacksonville Landing. As the first construction equipment moved in along the Northbank Riverwalk, the city closed Hogan and Water streets nearby, as well as Independent Drive in front of it. And those Downtown road closures will last through late December.
Phase 1 involve the western half of the site, including the Northbank Riverwalk, with curving walkways, native plant gardens and a cafe with a playground on top of it, city officials said. This phase will take about a year.
The final detour won't take as long, the city said. Installation of a new water and sewer line across East Bay Street saw it shut down on Monday between North Liberty Street and A. Philip Randolph Boulevard. That shutdown and detour should last through Wednesday as the lines are installed as part of the Catherine Street project. The city is extending that road across East Bay Street to offer access and parking to the Fire Museum and Jacksonville Naval Museum aboard the USS Orleck warship at 610 E Bay St.
But while that project's detour is East Adams Street, anyone using it in heavy rains on Monday found a cherry picker blocking part of the road, plus narrowed lanes due to a construction project there. That detour is set to run through 4 p.m. on Wednesday, city officials said.
