The City of Jacksonville will reopen the portion of East Bay Street between Marsh and Lafayette Streets to all vehicular traffic on Saturday, Aug. 9 at noon in time for the first Jacksonville Jaguars 2008 preseason home game that evening. 

Pedestrian traffic will be able to cross the Bay Street bridge on the north side only.  The segment of East Bay Street between Marsh and Lafayette Streets will then be closed to resume construction beginning Monday, Aug. 11 by 7 a.m.  The following weekend, this same scenario will be followed for the second Jaguars preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 16 with the street opening at noon the day of the game and potentially closing the following Monday.  The road is expected to be reopened permanently by early fall 2008.

Since January, this section of the roadway has been closed to allow for the construction of a new bridge on East Bay Street, spanning Hogan’s Creek. 

This previous bridge structure represented one of the greatest impediments to improving the overall flow of the creek.  By replacing it with a wider structure, drainage along Hogan’s Creek – which winds through downtown – will be improved.  The project scope also includes relocating underground utilities in the immediate area.

The approximately $3 million project is funded in the city’s capital improvement budget and is being constructed by Lucas Marine Construction, LLC.