Florida State Road 211

State Road 211 (SR 211) is a state highway entirely within Jacksonville, Florida, running from U.S. Highway 17/SR 15 (Roosevelt Boulevard), north to the northern approach of the Acosta Bridge at SR 13 with US 17/SR 15 and SR 228 in downtown Jacksonville.

Route description

State Road 211 begins at an intersection with U.S. Highway 17/SR 15 (Roosevelt Boulevard) and proceeds north as Ortega Boulevard, a one lane street through residential areas. It veers one block west of the St. Johns River through the neighborhood, heading towards a northeast direction until an intersection with Grand Avenue, where SR 211 heads in a northwest direction as Grand Avenue. Three blocks northwest of the intersection, SR 211 crosses the Old Ortega River Bridge, a drawbridge over the St. Johns River. At the northern end of the bridge, SR 211 heads west as San Juan Avenue, passing by a park and more residential housing. At Herschel Street, SR 128 begins westbound as San Juan Avenue, while SR 211 heads north as Herschel Street, becoming a bit more of a commercial street, with residential housing not far from the road. After a short crossing of a canal, the road turns east, becoming St. Johns Avenue and once again, paralleling the St. Johns River as SR 211 enters Avondale, a residential district. After curving in direction for a few blocks, St. Johns Avenue gains a parallel street, Riverside Avenue, one block northeast of St. Johns Avenue, with SR 211 representing a mix of residential and commercial areas as it heads northeast. At the western end of the St. Vincents Medical Center, SR 211 turns north on King Street for one block, which at one point represented the city limits of Jacksonville. SR 211 then turns east on Riverside Avenue, which paralleled St. Johns Avenue for 19 blocks to the southwest, into the Riverside area, continuing the mix of commercial and residential presence on SR 211. After a few blocks, it turns north, with intersections with Post Street, the historical northern terminus of SR 211, and I-95 two blocks north, in which access is provided a few blocks north on Park Street. SR 211 goes under I-95, entering central Jacksonville, and becoming a divided road with two lanes each way, quickly approaching the northern approach of the Acosta Bridge, where SR 211 ends at the intersection with US 17/SR 13/SR 228 in central Jacksonville.^[1]

History

From 1932 to 1950, the road was the original route in south Jacksonville of US 17, before Roosevelt Avenue (now Roosevelt Boulevard) was built. Between 1951 - 1955, the route was signed "US Alt 17", with a hidden State Road 211. By 1957, the US Alt 17 was removed and it was only signed as State Road 211. The portion between Post Street north to the Acosta Bridge was added to SR 211 in 1994.

Major junctions

The entire route is located in Jacksonville, Duval County.

References