I-295 Heckscher Drive interchange project all about moving freight

FDOT’s Mission Statement speaks to the “mobility of people and goods.”

The I-295 interchange project at Heckscher Drive currently under construction is a perfect example of that mission being carried out.

The interchange project is addressing a logjam at JAXPORT where two major seaports and multiple terminals create a high demand for trucks entering and exiting the port to access the Interstate system.

Adding to the mix is a new Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) hub just east of I-295, which is nearing completion. Once open, the ICTF will add to an already busy nexus for commercial trucking.

FDOT, JAXPORT, CSX Transportation and the city of Jacksonville all participated in the $30 million ICTF funding, with $20 million coming from FDOT and $10 million from a TIGER grant to JAXPORT and the City of Jacksonville.

The ICTF will add to the 754-acre Blount Island Terminal and 158-acre New Berlin Road Terminal. The two terminals handle more than one million twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEU) each year.

The I-295 project will also enhance access to and from the TraPac Container Terminal at Dames Point.

The project includes the following key features:

• Widening New Berlin Road south of Heckscher Drive;
• Constructing a new ramp from New Berlin Road at the existing TraPac Cargo Container Terminal and new Intermodal Container Transfer Facility to northbound I-295;
• Constructing new southbound ramps from I-295 with direct access to the TraPac Cargo Container Terminal;
• Adding new retention ponds, expanding existing ponds for drainage and installing new signs and new high-mast lights.

These improvements will help maintain access on Heckscher Drive and New Berlin Road while accommodating a significant upcoming increase in port-related commercial truck traffic.

CRANE’S VIEW — JAXPORT crane technician Roy Crumpler captured this image from a perch far above the cargo hold. FDOT’s work on I-295 at Heckscher Drive will ease access to and from JAXPORT’s new Intermodal Container Transfer Facility as well as the TraPac Container Terminal at Dames Point. (Photo courtesy of JAXPORT)

Superior Construction Company is the contractor and England-Thims & Miller is the CEI firm on the I-295 Heckscher Drive project.

The $44.4 million project is currently 67 percent complete and is targeted for a summer 2016 completion.