State Road 23 (SR 23), also known as the First Coast Expressway, is an outer bypass around the southwest quadrant 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 ...

. , the first phase has been built, linking the Middleburg area to

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

near

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

. The ultimate plan is for a $1.8 billion, , four-lane

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic) The road toll was a historical fee charged to travellers and ...

expressway continuing southeast to

Green Cove Springs Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is ...

and east to

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

near the

World Golf Village The World Golf Village (WGV) is a golf resort in St. Johns County, Florida, United States, located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It was created by the PGA Tour and showcases the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition to the resort the Wor ...

, to be constructed in two phases. Construction of the section from Middleburg to just north of SR 16 near Green Cove Springs began in 2019 and is expected to wrap up in the middle of the 2020s. Construction of the final section, from near Green Cove Springs and across the St. Johns River then continuing east through fast-growing northern St. Johns County to I-95 is expected to begin in 2023 and be completed around the end of the 2020s decade.

Route description

History

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 Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) is a unit of the Florida Department of Transportation that operates toll roads in Florida. The current Executive Director is Nicola Liquori. History The Florida State Turnpike Authority was authorized by the F ...

to meet those plans, but those plans fell through. The

Jacksonville Transportation Authority The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the independent agency responsible for public transit in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and roadway infrastructure that connects northeast Florida. However, they do not maintain any roadways. ...

and

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flor ...

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 a point on Branan Field Road north of 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

The beltway when finished will contain 17 interchanges and a new bridge across the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

in place of the current two-lane

Shands Bridge The Shands Bridge is a two-lane automobile bridge carrying SR 16 over the St. Johns River south of Jacksonville, Florida. History The first structure at the site was a 2-mile-long wooden toll span with a draw bridge inaugurated in 1928. It was ...

Funding

Funding 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 The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

(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. The beltway is the largest infrastructure project in Florida History. In early 2011, FDOT abandoned the plan to find a private company to build the entire 46.6 mile beltway and just focus on building the 15 mile section between I-10 and SR 21 (Blanding Blvd). 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. In August 2011, FDOT announced that the

will be taking on the $291 million project of turning the 15-mile stretch into a tollway. Construction started on September 10, 2012 and set to be completed in fall 2018. Construction on the second phase of the expressway, from SR 21 (Blanding Blvd) to Green Cove Springs, is expected to start around January 2019. The third and final phase of the project, which includes replacement of the

, is anticipated to start in 2023.

Tolling

According to FDOT, all tolls will be done electronically and compatible with

SunPass SunPass is an electronic toll collection system within the state of Florida, United States. It was created in 1999 by the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT's) Office of Toll Operations, operating now as a division of Florida's Turnpik ...

used in other parts of the state with no toll booths. There will be two exceptions to the tollroad. The section between I-10 and New World Avenue will not be tolled to help promote growth in the

Cecil Commerce Center Cecil Commerce Center (CCC) is a commercial and industrial center in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located on Jacksonville's Westside on the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field and includes Cecil Airport. The 17,000-acre center represents more t ...

. Also people living around the Shands Bridge area will be exempt from tolls on the Shands Bridge crossing the

Major intersections

Tolls are collected between each exit south of Exit 42.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://firstcoastexpressway.com

023 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

Toll roads in Florida Westside, Jacksonville Expressways in Duval County, Florida