Atlantic Boulevard is a highway in Duval County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, that forms the easternmost portion of State Road 10 (SR 10) and is also part of U.S. Route 90 (US 90). Atlantic Boulevard connects the mainland portion of the city of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

with the Jacksonville Beaches on a

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

to the east. Its western terminus is at San Marco Square in the

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Saint Mark's Square, that was never admin ...

neighborhood, at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, thei ...

with the northern terminus of Balis Place, where the roadway continues as San Marco Boulevard; it travels to the east to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

at the Jacksonville Beaches, forming the city line between

Atlantic Beach Atlantic Beach is the name of some places in the United States: *Atlantic Beach, Florida, a city *Atlantic Beach, New York, a village *Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, a town *Atlantic Beach, South Carolina Atlantic Beach is a town in Horry County ...

on its north side and Neptune Beach on its south side. Its eastern terminus is just to the east of a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...

with the northern terminus of Midway Street on the city line.

History

Atlantic Boulevard was first planned circa 1890 by Eugene F. Gilbert, a jeweler from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

who had purchased oceanfront property and envisioned a

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

road between the former city of South Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Beaches. Gilbert paid for

land survey Land survey may refer to: * Topographic surveying and mapping, the survey of landscape features for general mapping purposes * Civil engineering surveying, a survey of local topographic features for engineering purposes * Cadastral surveying, the ...

s and eventually convinced the Duval County Commission to use convict labor to start building the road, but a new set of

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

ers terminated the effort when the project was about two-thirds complete.Bill Foley
A 'typical Yankee' is to thank for road
''

Florida Times Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

'', 20 August 1997 The editor of the Jacksonville ''Evening Telegram'' published that it was hoped the county commissioners would improve the road and not leave it merely as an opening cut through the woods.T. Frederick Davis, ''History of Jacksonville, Florida and vicinity, 1513 to 1924'', Florida Historical Society, 1925.http://ufdc.ufl.edu/NF00000013/00001/Retrieved 2011-12-23 The road was eventually completed in 1910, after the arrival of the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

. It was Florida's first modern "improved" highway and is considered to have been the beginning of the state's highway system. Its dedication on July 28, 1910, was celebrated with

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

s and

auto race Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

s.Bill Foley
Atlantic, Girvin met on road in 1910
''

'', 25 July 1998 The original road was wide, which was soon criticized as being too narrow for the large amount of traffic that the popular road carried between the mainland and the beach.Charles E. Foote
Road Improvement in the Far South
''The Horseless Age'' 35(9), pages 351-352. March 10, 1915. Road surfacing materials used on different sections of the boulevard included shell,

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

, asphalt macadam, and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

laid over a base of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

y soil. The brick sections rapidly became rough and wavy as heavy

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

caused shifting of the bricks and the underlying sand. Just five years after completion of the boulevard, the brick sections were expected to require resurfacing with a more durable material such as concrete. In 2001, the road is now a six-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

for most of its length, and the bridges on it were rebuilt. In 2008,

traffic count A traffic count is a count of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, which is conducted along a particular road, path, or intersection. A traffic count is commonly undertaken either automatically (with the installation of a temporary or permanent elec ...

s at locations along Atlantic Boulevard ranged from 26,000 to 61,000 vehicles per day.Duval County State Roads Traffic Counts - 2008
North Florida Transportation Planning Organization website, accessed January 12, 2011

References

{{reflist 1910 establishments in Florida Roads in Jacksonville, Florida U.S. Route 90 Boulevards in the United States

History

See also

References