FDOT's June design for State Road A1A would have ended the northbound left turn onto Solana Road. Drivers would have kept going about 325 feet north to a new traffic signal, made a U-turn there, and come back south to reach Solana. Less than three months later, St. Johns County's Public Works director told the Ponte Vedra Beach Municipal Service District that the alternate plan now in progress removes every U-turn at that intersection. The feature residents fought hardest in June is being designed out before any version has been finalized. The corridor's future shape is still open.
What FDOT Put on the Table in June
The project's official name is "State Road A1A from Gnarled Oaks Drive to the Duval County line Proposed Operational Improvements," listed as project 210404-4. FDOT's project page gives the cost as $7.1 million. The stated goals are to improve operations and increase safety for "motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, children and other vulnerable users of the corridor."
The plan touches six spots that most Ponte Vedra Beach drivers pass through every week:
| Location | What FDOT proposed in June |
|---|---|
| Fairfield Boulevard/Sawgrass Drive West | Re-route eastbound/westbound through and left-turn movements |
| TPC Boulevard/Country Club Boulevard | Re-route eastbound/westbound through movements; offset northbound and southbound left turns for visibility |
| Sawgrass Village Drive/L'Atrium Drive | Re-route eastbound/westbound through movements |
| Solana Road | Re-route northbound left-turn and westbound through movements |
| Merchants Plaza to Professional Drive | Extend the southbound auxiliary lane to improve merging from J. Turner Butler Boulevard |
| Ponte Vedra Lakes Boulevard | Extend the eastbound right-turn lane |
The project page doesn't explain what "re-routing" means. FDOT's June 2026 traffic operational analysis does. At L'Atrium Circle/Sawgrass Village Drive and at Fairfield Boulevard/Sawgrass Drive, drivers would no longer cross A1A straight through. Instead, they would use median U-turns, each with a new signal. One would sit about 400 feet south of Sawgrass Village Drive and the other about 400 feet north of Fairfield. At Fairfield, left turns from the side streets would also be restricted. Eastbound drivers would use a new unsignalized U-turn about 525 feet south. Westbound drivers would U-turn at Ponte Vedra Pointe Drive, about 625 feet north. The analysis also called for extending the three southbound through lanes from Professional Drive/Avenue C to Marlin Avenue, plus retiming signals along the corridor.
Put together, the June design would have turned a typical crossing of A1A into a short loop. You'd pass your street, turn around at a new signal, and come back.
Why FDOT Started With the Crossings
FDOT said the goal was to cut congestion and improve safety, with particular attention to Solana, TPC, and Sawgrass Village. Its study cites heavy traffic and expected growth as the reasons improvements are needed.
The crash record explains why the cross-traffic intersections got so much attention. FDOT's analysis counted 1,061 crashes on its A1A study corridor between January 2020 and December 2024, including 196 injury crashes and 21 involving pedestrians or bicyclists. Two stretches came in above the statewide average crash rate for comparable segments. One runs from TPC/Country Club to Palm Valley, and the other from Palm Valley to Fairfield/Sawgrass. Those two stretches cover the same section of A1A where the plan concentrates its U-turns.
The Room on June 23
FDOT held an in-person public hearing on June 23 and a virtual one on June 24, and took comments through July 7. News4JAX reported that dozens of residents came to the in-person session. The crowd spilled into a hallway, and some people left because there was nowhere to sit. Many attendees were not convinced the design would improve traffic, and several pushed for new signals and simpler fixes. In the same report, FDOT spokesperson Meg Ross said, "Nothing's yet finalized."
The Ponte Vedra Recorder's coverage added more of the concerns raised. Residents worried about losing palm trees and displacing wildlife. Municipal Service District chair Kitty Switkes raised a practical question about the U-turns themselves: "I am not sure how school buses and trucks are going to make those U-turns."
Not everyone opposed the whole plan. In a letter published by the Recorder, Greg Leonard, president of the PVB Citizens Traffic Task Force, wrote that the hearing's communications had been unclear to residents. He still supported considering the Solana changes and the offset left turns. He cited a task force survey showing 80% support for improvements at Solana, Sawgrass Village, TPC, and Mickler.
So the public record from June shows residents largely agreed these intersections need work. The objections were mostly about how: the U-turns and the landscaping.
What Changed by September
At the MSD's monthly meeting on September 14 at Christ Church, Public Works Director Greg Caldwell said the county had been working closely with FDOT on an alternate plan. He said the June hearing produced two main takeaways: reduce U-turn movements and minimize the impact on palm trees and other plants.
According to the Recorder's report on that meeting, the alternate removes all U-turns at the A1A and Solana Road intersection and "will possibly only affect one tree." Caldwell said that one of its biggest advantages is that crossing A1A from east to west, or west to east, would work the same as it does now.
"The new plan removes U-turns and minimizes tree impact while still providing the same traffic relief," said Caldwell.
If that holds up, the trade-off residents objected to in June largely goes away at Solana. Caldwell said the alternate would still deliver the same traffic relief as FDOT's original model. He was also careful to say Public Works was still checking that the changes were feasible. "There will be some type of interaction with the public," he said, once a plan is set.
The Recorder's report focuses on Solana. It doesn't say whether the median U-turns proposed near Sawgrass Village Drive, TPC Boulevard, and Fairfield Boulevard are also being reworked. For anyone who regularly turns into Sawgrass Village or crosses at Fairfield, that is the biggest open question.
The Calendar Is Still Blank
Here is how the public record has unfolded so far:
- March 13, 2025: A draft North Florida TPO priority list includes project 210404-4 as "Intersection Improvements and Multiuse Trail Addition" on A1A from Mickler Road to Marsh Landing Parkway, with construction shown as FY 28.
- February 11, 2026: FDOT's amended tentative work program for FY27–31 lists 210404-4 as "SRA1A FROM GNARLED OAKS TO DUVAL COUNTY LINE" and codes it as resurfacing.
- June 2026: FDOT publishes its traffic operational analysis.
- June 23–24, 2026: Public hearings are held, with comments accepted through July 7.
- September 14, 2026: The county presents its alternate plan for Solana at the MSD meeting.
FDOT's project page lists both the start and completion dates as "TBD." The FY 28 construction year comes from a draft priority list, not a funded schedule. The sources also describe the project's limits differently. FDOT's page runs from Gnarled Oaks Drive to the Duval County line. The traffic analysis covers south of J. Turner Butler Boulevard to Fairfield Boulevard/Sawgrass Drive. The TPO draft uses Mickler Road to Marsh Landing Parkway. The analysis also covers two project numbers, 210404-4 and 210404-6. So the stretch residents call "the A1A project" may end up being more than one job, built on more than one schedule.
The multiuse trail in the TPO listing hasn't come up in the public debate. It isn't described on FDOT's current project page, and none of the hearing coverage mentions it.
Where the Next Version Will Show Up
The next public step is the outreach Caldwell promised once the alternate is final. Updates will most likely come through the project page on Northeast Florida Roads, which hosts the hearing handout and the full traffic analysis. The MSD's monthly meetings at Christ Church are where the county gave its September update, and the Ponte Vedra Recorder has covered each stage so far. As of mid-September, the Solana alternate was still being refined, and no source has yet confirmed what will happen at Sawgrass Village, TPC, or Fairfield.
A redesigned intersection near home can change everyday routes and, eventually, how a property shows to buyers. If you'd like to talk through what changes at Solana, Sawgrass Village, or Fairfield could mean for your own home and plans, Katie Kravtsov follows these updates closely and is happy to help. Schedule a Free Consultation.
