| State Road 21 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length: | 57.4 mi[1] (92.38 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | SR 20 / CR 20A in McMeekin | |||
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SR 26 in Melrose |
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| North end: | US 17 / SR 15 / Park Street in Jacksonville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Putnam, Bradford, Clay, Duval | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Florida State and County Roads
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State Road 21 (SR 21) runs mostly in a southwest-to-northeast direction in the US state of Florida from McMeekin to Jacksonville. It is also known as Blanding Boulevard for much of its length.
SR 21 is one of four routes, along with Roosevelt Boulevard, Branan Field/Chaffee Road (SR 23), and the First Coast Outer Beltway that connect Jacksonville with its surroundings west of the St. Johns River. Congestion has become a problem over the years as local government works to develop infrastructure for the growing populations of Orange Park, Middleburg and Green Cove Springs with the northern connectivity sought and thought to be achieved by drastic road widening despite the decimation of Lake Shore's prewar scale. Residents of both Clay and St. Johns counties' communities rely on Duval's economy (Jacksonville) for employment. As a result, traffic is heavy during morning and evening rush hour, especially near and on I-295. Such has spurred the creation of the Collins Road / I-295 interchange.
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SR 21 begins at SR 20, and the western terminus of County Road 20A (CR 20A), in McMeekin in Putnam County. For the first seven miles (11 km), the road is a relatively flat two-lane rural highway heading north with occasional hills. The only other intersection of importance north of here is CR 21, a connecting spur to Marion County. North of here, the road begins to bear to the northwest, but curves to slightly back along the eastern shore of Lake Melrose. After intersecting SR 26 in Melrose, SR 21 enters Clay County, but does not stay there for long as it starts to move northwest and enters extreme southeastern Bradford County north of the intersection with Melrose Road. The only two intersection of any importance within this county are CR 214, and CR 21B.[2] Passing between Keystone Heights Golf and Country Club, and winding around Lake Geneva, SR 21 re-enters Clay County in Keystone Heights, acquiring the name Lakeside Avenue, and then Lawrence Boulevard. It intersects SR 100 where it makes a sharp turn to the northeast. North of Loch Lommond, SR 21 serves as the southeastern border of Camp Blanding. In this location, it also runs past Mike Roses Gold Head State Park, and has a short concurrency with CR 315, after turning straight north in Belmore. West of Penney Farms, Florida, SR 21 intersects SR 16 and ceases to serve as the east side of Camp Blanding, but still remains a two-lane rural highway.
Only when the road enters Middleburg does SR 21 become a four-lane divided highway just south of the intersection of CR 215 (Kingsley Lake Road), and curves to the northeast again. From here it gains the name Blanding Boulevard., which crosses CR 218. Shortly after then it serves as the terminus of CR 220, which begins on the west side as Everett Avenue, only to loop around on the south shore of Black Creek, then merges with SR 21 in a hidden concurrency, which serves as the southern terminus of CR 220A (Long Bay Road). CR 220 leaves at Doctors Inlet Road, but then SR 21 encounters the southern terminus of SR 23, which is only meant to be temporary. An interchange is planned for SR 23 slightly to the west of the current terminus as part of the First Coast Outer Beltway.[3][4] The road crosses CR 220A again at Old Jennings Road. Beyond that, it has two western termini with another suffixed route, known as CR 21B in Ridgewood. The first section of this is named Jefferson Avenue. In Lakeside, SR 21 serves as the northern terminus of CR 224, which is named College Drive because it is the road to Saint Johns River Community College. CR 21B ends at SR 21 again along Cleveland Avenue. Near Orange Park, the road curves straight north again where SR 224 serves as the last major intersection in suburban northeastern Florida, although one more community known as Meadowbrook Terrace, Florida is the home of the Orange Park Mall. North of the Clay–Duval county line, SR 21 enters Jacksonville, and then approaches the interchange with I-295, which is currently being redesigned to accommodate ramps to Collins Road, a street that intersects with SR 21 north of the interchange.
Within the rest of Jacksonville, the road intersects state highways such as SR 134 (103rd Street), and later serves as the eastern terminus of SR 208 (Wilson Boulevard), a connecting road to I-295. One last intersection, Hyde Park Road can be found before a bridge over the Cedar River, a tributary of the Ortega River, which ends near Lake Shore Boulevard. Despite the fact that the bridge has ended, the median remains wide until it reaches the southern terminus of SR 111 (Cassat Avenue), and several block later, intersects SR 128 (San Juan Avenue). The road continues to the northeast for several more blocks until it straightens to the north again and crosses St. Johns Avenue, a road that is a former segment of SR 21 that ended at SR 211.
Prior to SR 21's northern terminus, it has one last intersection with Park Street. Turning east at Park Street is the last opportunity to take US 17 south, and northbound drivers on US 17 will find it to be the best way to go to SR 21 south. In the meantime, SR 21 becomes a temporary limited-access highway north of Park Street as it makes one last northeast curve over Hamilton Avenue and a railroad line. SR 21 ends at US 17 by way of a loop ramp, and southbound SR 21 begins at a single southbound on-ramp that begins near Plymouth Street. However Blanding Boulevard shortly ends at another section of Park Street and an entrance to Florida State College at Jacksonville's Kent Campus.
| County | Location | Mile | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam |
McMeekin | 0.0 | SR 20 / CR 20A | Southern terminus | |||
| CR 21 | |||||||
| Melrose | SR 26 | ||||||
| Clay |
No major junctions | ||||||
| Bradford |
Keystone Heights | CR 21B | |||||
| Clay |
SR 100 | ||||||
| Penney Farms | SR 16 | ||||||
| Middleburg | CR 215 | ||||||
| SR 23 | |||||||
| Orange Park | SR 224 | ||||||
| Duval |
Jacksonville | I-295 / SR 9A | |||||
| SR 134 | |||||||
| SR 208 | |||||||
| Cedar River Bridge | |||||||
| SR 111 | |||||||
| SR 128 | |||||||
| 57.4 | US 17 / SR 15 | Northern terminus at partial cloverleaf interchange; Blanding Boulevard continues to Park Street | |||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||||
| County Road 21 | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Orange Springs – McMeekin |
County Road 21 (CR 21) is a bi-county road that begins in Orange Springs in Marion County. Rather than a true extension of SR 21, the road is a connecting spur. CR 21 begins at CR 315 in Orange Springs, and immediately crosses the Marion–Putnam county line, where it is named Baden Powell Road. The first major intersection it encounters is CR 20A in Johnson, which runs east–west and ends at the southern terminus of SR 21 to the west. This county road is related to a state road that CR 21 later encounters north of here, specifically SR 20 in Whiteville, which is east of the southern terminus of SR 21. The road continues north and then makes a sharp left turn becoming an east–west road before terminating at SR 21 between McMeekin and Melrose.
| County Road 21B | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Keystone Heights – Theresa |
County Road 21B (CR 21B) is a suffixed route of SR 21 on the Bradford County side of Keystone Heights. It begins at SR 21 and winds along the eastern shores of the Santa Fe Lakes, and then the south side of the Santa Fe Swamp before turning north and finally terminating at SR 100 near Theresa.
| County Road 21A | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Middleburg |
County Road 21A (CR 21A) is a suffixed county route of SR 21 that is oficially recognized by FDOT as two different streets in Middleburg, Florida.[5] The first of which is Forman Circle, a loop street on the west side of SR 21, the north end of which runs parallel to Peppergrass Street. The other is Black Creek Drive, which has no connection to SR 21 and begins at CR 218, running south until it reaches a dead end along the South Fork of Black Creek.
| County Road 21B | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Ridgewood – Lakeside |
County Road 21B (CR 21B) is another county suffixed alternative route of SR 21. It begins at SR 21 as Jefferson Avenue heading northwest, then turns right onto Washington Avenue a few blocks to the north and runs parallel to SR 21, running northeast through the heard of Ridgewood. Later it makes another turn to the right onto Cleveland Avenue and heads southeast until finally terminating at SR 21 near Lakeside.