One bridge opens, one bridge closes

[bobliocatt]

Jacksonville's Hart Bridge will be closed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday so crews can work on installing decorative lighting for the span. Meanwhile the new Wonderwood Connector bridge will be open for traffic by Saturday morning, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority said.

The Wonderwood Connector bridge will provide another crossing over the Intracoastal Waterway for drivers between Arlington and Mayport.

Meanwhile decorative lightning will be added to the Hart Bridge in preparation for the Super Bowl.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority plans to repeat the Hart Bridge closure at the same time July 31 and Aug. 1. If needed, the bridge also will be closed the weekend of Aug. 7-8.

[Urban_Legend]

I can't wait to see all the bridges lit up! I'm glad they're doing this, not only for Super Bowl, but for the whole city in general. BTW, did they ever finish the Main St. Bridge?

[bobliocatt]

They're still painting the Main Street bridge. So I assume they aren't going to paint the Hart Bridge?

[TheUrbanCore]

You guys will love this:

http://www.hartandmainstreetbridgepainting.com/

[wolfdawg54]

What! Why aren't they going to paint the Hart? The bridge is starting to rust and the paint is wearing off, so why not?

[vicupstate]

The Hart Bridge painting was postponed because First Baptist did not want both the Main St and Hart bridge closed on the weekends at the same time. It would negatively affect their attendance on Sundays. This is a prime example of short-sighted planning by the city to prepare for the Super Bowl. The extremely tight schedule for the Bay Street Town Center being another example.

[Urban_Legend]

I'm starting to lose a little hope on all these Super Bowl projects. They should change the city's campaign slogan to "We Tried!"

[bobliocatt]

yeah, it seems like most of what was announced to be completed, before the superbowl, won't. The list is getting pretty long: The Barnett, Laura Place, The Landing, The riverwalk, One Shipyard Place, the Hart Bridge Painting, etc.

I'm even beginning to wonder how successful the Bay Street Town Center project will be. The Churchwell Lofts project has been abandoned, no street construction has started yet and only three buildings (the Holmes Block, Eclate Jazz, & Suddath) are under construction or planned to be completed before the super bowl.

Anyway, I still hold the outside hope that a couple of restaurants, bars, & art galleries, will be announced and opened before the Super Bowl arrives.

On the other hand, it looks like Adams Street, outside of the Landing, will be the permanent hot spot for downtown dining and nightlife.

In any event, the city might want to develop some thick skin for the upcoming negative press, during super bowl week.