Acosta Bridge

Encyclopedia : A : AC : ACO : Acosta Bridge

The original Acosta Bridge with the adjacent railroad bridge.

A view of the Acosta Bridge from the Fuller Warren Bridge.

A 1992 map of the Acosta Bridge (the middle one), before its replacement.

The Acosta Bridge spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on a fixed span, named for City Councilman St. Elmo W. Acosta, who convinced voters to approve a $950,000 bond issue for the original bridge. It carries SR 13 (six lanes) with the two-track Jacksonville Skyway in the median. Prior to its replacement in 1991, the Acosta Bridge, originally the St. Johns River Bridge, carried three lanes (center one reversible) on a lift bridge opened in 1921. Tolls were charged until 1940, earning more than $4 million for the City of Jacksonville. At some time in 1991, the original bridge was closed to allow construction of the new one to proceed.

Despite being a freeway, bicycles are permitted on the main lanes of the bridge.

Just to the southwest, parallel to the Acosta Bridge, is the Florida East Coast Railway, with two tracks on its own bridge, a drawbridge completed in the mid-1990s to replace a 1925 single-track drawbridge. That bridge replaced an even older swing bridge, opened on January 5, 1890.

The Acosta Bridge is also notable because of the blue neon lights that illuminate it at night.

North (downtown) approach

The original north approach was a T-shaped viaduct, with the bridge ending at Riverside Avenue (US 17/SR 15 (Pre-1945 SR 3)). Just southwest of the Acosta Bridge, Riverside Avenue passed over the adjacent Florida East Coast Railway bridge approach.

When the bridge was rebuilt, the intersection was rebuilt as a semi-directional T interchange. Direct high-speed connections were provided between the bridge and both directions on Riverside Avenue, as well as a direct ramp from the bridge to the intersection of Broad Street and Bay Street (Riverside Avenue splits into a one-way pair of Broad Street and Jefferson Street north of the bridge).

South approach

The bridge originally emptied out on Miami Road (now Prudential Drive) just west of San Marco Boulevard, with a continuation, at least southbound, to San Marco Boulevard. SR 13 went south on San Marco Boulevard, and was later changed to go east on Miami Road.

Around 1958, a system of freeways was built in Jacksonville. This system included an eastern approach for the recently-opened Fuller Warren Bridge, along with the older Acosta Bridge and Main Street Bridge, carrying traffic to the Phillips Highway (U.S. Route 1 (SR 5)) and Atlantic Boulevard (US 90 (SR 10)). A new approach to the Acosta Bridge was built, splitting from the old one two blocks north of Miami Road, and passing over the intersection of Miami Road and San Marco Boulevard before merging with the other bridge approaches. The old approach became southbound only, and northbound access was provided at Mary Street, two blocks north of Miami Road. A northbound exit was also provided at Mary Street for traffic coming from the south and east. No southbound entrance was provided, but the adjacent Main Street Bridge approach provided access in that direction.

When the bridge was rebuilt, the south approach was kept almost identical. The only real difference was a new northbound onramp from Museum Circle, one block north of Mary Street.

External links

St. Johns River crossings in the Jacksonville, Florida area
south of downtown	Shands Bridge (to be replaced or supplemented) - Buckman Bridge - Timuquana Bridge (never built)
south from downtown	Fuller Warren Bridge - Acosta Bridge - Main Street Bridge (Jacksonville)>Main Street Bridge
east from downtown	Hart Bridge - Mathews Bridge - 20th Street Extension (never built)
east of downtown	Dames Point Bridge - Florida State Road 113A>SR 113A (never built) - Mayport Ferry

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