The Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway is a long
expressway running along the eastern and northern edges of
Downtown Jacksonville
Downtown Jacksonville is the historic core and central business district (CBD) of Jacksonville, Florida USA. It comprises the earliest area of the city to be developed and is located in its geographic center along the narrowing point of the St. ...
,
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 to ...
. It carries
U.S. Route 1 Alternate (US 1 Alternate) from near its southern terminus to an
interchange with
US 1/
US 17 (Main Street). US 1 follows the expressway to its northern terminus, an
intersection with
US 23. Despite its name, it is not a
parkway in the conventional sense, as it has no limits on
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
use and is not located near
parks or other beautified areas.
Route description
The parkway begins just east of the
Gator Bowl, near an
interchange with
State Route 10A (SR 10A) and
SR 139 to the
Mathews Bridge
The Mathews Bridge is a cantilever bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, which spans the St. Johns River. Constructed in 1953, the bridge brings traffic along the Arlington Expressway between downtown Jacksonville and the Arlington neighborhood. It ...
. Continuing north around downtown Jacksonville, the highway bends due west and intersects
Interstate 95 (I-95). The route continues west for another mile before merging with
US 23 (New Kings Road).
The entire length of the parkway is included as part of the
National Highway System,
a system of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.
History
Upon its completion in the early 1960s, the road was actually known by two names. The eastern portion, running due north from the base of the Matthews Bridge, was known as the Haines Street Expressway. The northern portion, running due west from the northern terminus of the Haines Expressway, was known as the 20th Street Expressway. Both sections took their respective names from the actual city streets that they either replaced or ran parallel to. The two roads were, in actual operation, a single road, providing a rapid, limited-access route from the
Gator Bowl in the southeastern corner of downtown Jacksonville, to the northwestern residential reaches of downtown.
In 2000, the
Jacksonville City Council
The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The council meets in its chambers at Jacksonville City Hall, 117 W. Duval St. Under Florida’s government transparency laws, all official co ...
voted to honor the murdered
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
leader
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, by naming this route after him, and the change was effected on January 15, 2001, the 72nd anniversary of King's birth. Jacksonville was one of the last major cities in the country to rename a road for Dr. King; by choosing this route, the city was able to pay homage and yet because the entire route is without any addresses, either residential or business, the council was able to avoid irritating constituents, as often happens with such name changes. For the same reason, the
frontage road
A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...
s are still named Haines Street.
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 ...
, Panel OKs Renaming of Haines Street Expressway Would Become Part of MLK Jr. Parkway, July 7, 2000
Exit list
See also
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*
*
Transportation in Jacksonville, Florida
References
External links
{{Attached KML
Expressways in Duval County, Florida
U.S. Route 1