On the evening of June 23, the room at THE PLAYERS Community Senior Center on Landrum Lane drew such a large crowd that people spilled into the hallway. According to News4JAX, some people walked in, couldn't find a seat, and left. They had come to hear the Florida Department of Transportation explain its plan to change the medians on State Road A1A from Gnarled Oaks Drive to the Duval County line. Many of them left unconvinced.
Three months later, the plan has changed in ways that matter to anyone who turns onto Solana Road or crosses A1A at TPC Boulevard. Most of that change didn't come out of a second state hearing. It came out of the monthly meetings of the Municipal Service District of Ponte Vedra Beach at Christ Church. If you want to know where A1A is headed this fall, those meetings are the best record available.
What FDOT Put on the Table in June
The state's proposal covered six spots along the corridor.
- Fairfield Boulevard and Sawgrass Drive West: re-routing eastbound and westbound through traffic and left turns
- TPC Boulevard and Country Club Boulevard: re-routing through traffic, with northbound and southbound left turns offset at both intersections for better visibility
- Sawgrass Village Drive and L'Atrium Drive: re-routing eastbound and westbound through traffic
- Solana Road: re-routing the northbound left turn and westbound through traffic
- Merchants Plaza to Professional Drive: a longer southbound auxiliary lane to make merging from J. Turner Butler Boulevard easier
- Ponte Vedra Lakes Boulevard: a longer eastbound right-turn lane
FDOT public information officer Meg Ross said that evening that "nothing's yet finalized." She described the goals as reducing congestion and improving safety, with Solana Road, TPC Boulevard and Sawgrass Village Drive named specifically. The project carries FDOT number 210404-4 and an estimated cost of $7.1 million.
What Residents Asked For Instead
Most of the speakers who went on record agreed that the corridor needed work. Their objection was that the redesign was more complicated than the problem called for. One speaker said FDOT hadn't "defined a reason that's justifiable for the expenses" and argued for solid turn signals in place of the flashing yellow. Another speaker described a spot where two lanes merge into one while cars are moving at 55 to 60 miles an hour, and said a traffic light would solve it.
A third speaker raised pedestrian safety and the corridor's history of fatal crashes. A fourth said the plan should serve "the people who live in the neighborhoods, not the people who are trying to bust down A1A to get wherever they're going."
The public comment window closed on July 7. After that, the conversation moved to Christ Church.
The August Reset
At the MSD meeting on Monday, August 10, trustee Mickey White gave an update. White sits on the Community Traffic Task Force, and he said there had been a lot of confusion among residents after the June hearing. The task force put out an educational summary to clear things up. County Commissioner Krista Joseph then sent a notice listing the steps the state and county had agreed on.
The Ponte Vedra Recorder's report of that meeting lists the steps.
- A roundabout where the J. Turner Butler Boulevard exit meets Marsh Landing Parkway
- Offset left turns
- An upgraded TPC Boulevard intersection
- Protection for the palm trees
- The blinking light at Fairfield stays as it is
- No U-turns
FDOT was also studying alternatives to the proposed U-turn at Solana Road.
Two items on that list stand out. The Marsh Landing Parkway roundabout wasn't among the six A1A locations presented in June, so the agreed approach reaches beyond the original median project. And keeping the Fairfield blinking light reverses the June concept, which would have re-routed through traffic and left turns at that intersection.
September: Solana Road Loses Its U-Turns
At the MSD meeting on Monday, September 14, St. Johns County Public Works Director Greg Caldwell said his department had been working closely with FDOT on an alternate plan. He summed up the June hearing in two points. People wanted fewer U-turn movements and less harm to palm trees and other plants.
The revised plan responds to both. It removes all U-turns at the A1A and Solana Road intersection and might affect only one tree. Caldwell also said that crossings from the east side of A1A to the west side, and the reverse, would not change.
"The new plan removes U-turns and minimizes tree impact while still providing the same traffic relief."
Greg Caldwell, St. Johns County Public Works Director, at the Sept. 14 MSD meeting
He was also clear that the plan isn't final. Public Works is still checking that the changes are workable and plans to tell the community once it has a set plan. In his words, "There will be some type of interaction with the public to make sure the information is provided."
Three Versions, One Corridor
The reporting so far describes three versions of the plan. This table lines them up by location. "Not separately reported" means the coverage didn't mention that spot, not that it was dropped.
| Location | June FDOT concept | August state-county steps | September revision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Blvd / Sawgrass Dr W | Re-route through and left-turn movements | Keep the blinking light as is | Not separately reported |
| TPC Blvd / Country Club Blvd | Re-route through movements; offset lefts | Upgrade the intersection; offset lefts | Not separately reported |
| Sawgrass Village Dr / L'Atrium Dr | Re-route through movements | Not separately reported | Not separately reported |
| Solana Rd | Re-route northbound left and westbound through movements | FDOT studying alternatives to the U-turn | All U-turns removed; possibly one tree affected |
| Merchants Plaza to Professional Dr | Longer southbound auxiliary lane for the JTB merge | Not separately reported | Not separately reported |
| Ponte Vedra Lakes Blvd | Longer eastbound right-turn lane | Not separately reported | Not separately reported |
| JTB exit at Marsh Landing Pkwy | Not part of the June list | Roundabout | Not separately reported |
Sources: News4JAX, June 23; Ponte Vedra Recorder, Aug. 13 and Sept. 17.
This creates a practical problem. FDOT's project page on nflroads.com is the official record, and as of today it still links to the June concept drawings for Solana Road and for the TPC Boulevard to Sawgrass Village Drive stretch. It lists the project start and expected completion as "TBD." A neighbor who looks up the official page will find the plan the community pushed back on, not the one Public Works described in September. As of now, the Recorder's MSD coverage is the most current public account of the revisions.
The Same Pattern Down the Coast
A1A isn't the only open question about getting around Ponte Vedra this fall, and the next one has a date.
St. Johns County is holding a community meeting on a preliminary beach trolley concept on Wednesday, October 7, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, 505 Guana River Road. The same presentation runs at 4, 5 and 6 p.m., and each is followed by feedback stations. The trolley could serve county-owned properties in South Ponte Vedra Beach and existing public access points in Vilano Beach. The county says it hasn't decided on stops, and it hasn't decided whether to pursue the service at all. The notice doesn't give a street-by-street route or name an operator. That puts it at the same stage A1A was in June, when the input still had room to change the plan.
Closer to Palm Valley, the last piece of the Palm Valley Road sidewalk on the western side, from Canal Boulevard to A1A, went under construction this spring with drainage work. An April report estimated it would take about four months. We haven't found any public confirmation that it's finished, so it's worth checking the segment yourself before planning a walk around it.
Where the Next Decisions Get Made
Here are the dates and places that matter for the rest of 2026.
- October 7, 4 to 7 p.m., GTM Research Reserve: the county's trolley concept meeting for South Ponte Vedra and Vilano
- Monthly MSD meetings at Christ Church: where the Community Traffic Task Force and Public Works gave the August and September A1A updates
- A future A1A public session: promised by Caldwell once the revised plan is set, with no date yet
- FDOT project 210404-4 on nflroads.com: the official page, which still shows the June concepts and a TBD schedule
Until Public Works releases a final drawing, the Solana Road change is a stated intention, not a construction schedule. No start date has been announced for any part of the corridor.
If you live near Solana Road, TPC Boulevard or Sawgrass Village and want to understand how these A1A changes could affect your daily routes or your property, Martin Williams is glad to go through the latest public record with you and keep you updated as the revised plan is finalized. Let's Connect.
