[EXPIRED] Limited Openings, Main Street Bridge, St. Johns River, Jacksonville, FL, 6/9/2016
The Main Street Bridge with a vertical clearance of 38ft (charted at 40ft) crossed the St. Johns in downtown Jacksonville. Except for weekends and holidays, these limited openings will affect cruisers wanting to explore the upper St. Johns.
FLORIDA – ST JOHNS RIVER – MAIN STREET BRIDGE: Bridge Repairs.
M&J Construction has advised the Coast Guard that they will be working on the Main Street Bridge across the St Johns River, Jacksonville, Florida from June 6, 2016 through April 6, 2017. The bridge operations schedule has been temporarily changed to allow the time needed to complete these repairs; therefore from June 6, 2016 through April 6, 2017, Monday through Friday except Federal holidays the Main Street Bridge will only open at 12 midnight, 4:00 a.m., 6:45 a.m., 12 noon, 4:15 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. On Saturdays, Sundays, Federal holidays, Jaguars game days, the weeks leading up to the Florida/Georgia and ND/Navy football games, and for any other unforeseen event that would seriously impact navigation the bridge will operate on its normal schedule. There will be floating equipment in the vicinity of the bridge; but they do not anticipate restriction navigation during these repairs.
Chart 11491 LNM 23/16
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To A “Navigation Alert” Position at Main Street Bridge
Comments from Cruisers (2)
I took at trip this past week and I can tell you the Main Street bridge tender is strict on opening times. There is no room for flexibility and the bridge is open for only 10 minutes. Be careful of approach as the flood tides can be treacherous (run 4-6 knots). Also the Main Street bridge opening schedule is not coordinated with the FEC Bridge schedule. If the train is coming you could find yourself stuck between the 2 bridges — not a comfortable position to be in during a flood time.
The actual Flood and Ebb maximum currents are usually between 1.5 and 2.0 Knots. There are a handful of times that the maximum flood reaches 2.5, with 2.81 the predicted highest value for the year 2016.
Many persons have reported this “4 -6 Knot” value for downtown currents in Jacksonville, and they are just plain wrong.