by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Hart and Fuller Warren bridges will help light Jacksonville’s skyline come Super Bowl time. The City will spend just under $2 million to light all three bridges connecting downtown’s north and south banks, Mayor John Peyton said Monday.
Peyton said in November the City would light the Main Street Bridge and one other, probably the Hart. However, he said his staff had found extra funds from projects already completed with State and federal dollars, allowing the City to light all three bridges. Mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy said the Hart and Main Street bridges would take priority, while the scope of the Fuller Warren project would depend on funding.
Peyton identified the Hart Bridge as a priority because of its proximity to the stadium and to downtown.
In addition to the bridges, the City has a $3 million Super Bowl “wish list,” that the mayor presented Monday to the Kiwanis Club at the Hilton. It includes improvements to Metro Park, the Southbank Riverwalk and Talleyrand Avenue, which will connect Alltel Stadium to the cruise ship berths.
The City will spend its preparation money, Peyton said, on enhancing existing assets. Rather than try to present Jacksonville as an entertainment equal to previous Super Bowl sites like Miami and New Orleans, Peyton said the City would emphasize an affordable, enjoyable standard of living.
“You’re going to see a lot of cleanup work,” said Peyton. “We are not going to blow our budget; we’re not going to try to be something we’re not.”
Construction delays pushed back plans for infrastructure improvements along Hendricks Avenue, a prominent Southbank corridor, but Peyton said the City would pursue a temporary fix. The cratered road would be resurfaced prior to the Super Bowl, he said.
“I know first-hand the condition of Hendricks Avenue,” said Peyton. “I drive it every day, and it is in terrible condition.
“It’s just a matter of time before somebody sues the City for a broken axle.”
The stopgap fix will include a layer of asphalt to fill in potholes and smooth the road. Murphy said the project also would include landscaping improvements.
Peyton delayed the original project, which calls for widened lanes, a bike lane, wider, repaved sidewalks and landscaping, because he wasn’t convinced the work would be finished in time for the game.
Once construction began, he said the City realized significant problems with buried utility lines.
“When you dig into some of these projects, you find things you never expected,” said Peyton.
Work would begin on the final project “the day after the Super Bowl,” he said, and would continue for a year.
Along with lighting, the area around the Main Street Bridge will be landscaped as part of a joint effort between Downtown Vision, Inc. and City Council member Suzanne Jenkins, who will introduce legislation next month for funding.
Budgeted at $233,000, large palm trees and shrubs would be planted at the base of the bridge up to Prudential Drive with irrigation upgrades also being installed.
DVI executive director Terry Lorince said the Florida Department of Transportation would be informed of plans and progress, but the landscape work would present little in the way of conflict for current bridge repairs.
“I don’t think it would present a problem because we’re not really going to be working on the bridge itself,” she said. “It’s really more about giving it some color as you’re entering and exiting downtown, to make it look nicer.”