North Florida Roads

Improvements to U.S. 301 in western Duval County began in May and will continue throughout the summer as the pavement will be replaced to provide a smoother and safer ride, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

The project extends from U.S. 90 in Baldwin to the Nassau County line. The 4- miles will be resurfaced and 13 culverts along the route will be extended and cleaned to provide safety and drainage improvements.

The $1.2 million project will take about five months to complete, depending on weather or other unforeseen conditions.

In order to minimize traffic congestion, no lanes will be closed from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. weekdays, and lane closures will be limited to 1- miles.

Duval Asphalt Products, Inc., of Jacksonville was hired by FDOT to do the work and will begin with drainage improvements for the first four months. Tentatively, paving work is expected to begin in mid September.

Traffic averaged 4,146 vehicles a day on this section of U.S. 301 in 2009 with large trucks accounting for about 10 percent of that traffic. It was last resurfaced in 1993.