Market Street will be reconstructed between Coastline Drive and Courthouse Drive as a 22-foot roadway with parallel parking, angled parking, a 17.5-foot new stretch of riverwalk and an eight-foot sidewalk adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.

Typical Section B-B - Market Street

To the north, Courthouse Drive will be reconstructed as a 22-foot wide street featuring a new 17.5-foot section of riverwalk.

Typical Section C-C - Courthouse Drive

To the east, Liberty Street will be reconstructed as a 22-foot wide street with parallel parking, angled parking, a six-foot sidewalk and a new 17.5-foot section of riverwalk.

Typical Section D-D - Liberty Street

Construction on this project will begin with the development of a temporary access road, just north of the Hyatt hotel between Newnan and Market Streets. Being built to allow access to the hotel, the private road will be completed in early 2017. The second phase, which will extend through the fall of 2017, will involve the removal of Coastline Drive, Liberty Street and the old courthouse parking deck. When demolition is complete, the final phase involves the construction of the new plan. A new Coastline Drive should be complete by 2017, followed by a new Liberty Street and a realigned riverwalk in Spring 2018.

Proposed Final Plan

While much of the focus has been on finding and implementing a permanent solution for a failing parking deck, the time has come for the city to coordinate and implement a vision for the property surrounding this newly exposed section of the river.

A riverfront development site for a restaurant still exists on Liberty Street, adjacent to Berkman Plaza and suddenly the Hyatt’s long vacant restaurant space will now have riverfront frontage on Coastline Drive and Market Street. Then there’s the former County Courthouse and City Hall Annex buildings. Is it time to move forward with a convention center on this site or should it be repurposed into something else? Finally, what about the new exposed riverfront itself? What fun is water if you can’t play and interact with it?

In conclusion, removing a structurally failing parking deck is just a start to reimagining and activating the Northbank riverfront.

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com