St. Augustine Shores residents continue fighting a median installation near Sevilla Drive that forces drivers to make U-turns instead of turning directly into their neighborhood, creating what they call a safety hazard. St. Johns County Commissioner Clay Murphy, who represents the district, has been working to address the concerns but faced resistance from fellow commissioners when proposing solutions.

“We knew nothing. It just happened. You have to make a whole U-turn just to get home,” one resident told News4JAX about the median placement. The installation occurred without warning to residents, who discovered the change blocked their direct access to the street where their homes are located. The median forces all drivers to continue past their neighborhood entrance and make a U-turn to reach Sevilla Drive.

“When they called me and said, ‘Hey, there’s not a cut-through anymore, what are we supposed to do?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, let me find out,’” Murphy said about his initial response to resident complaints. Murphy contacted the county’s planning department and reviewed the land development code to understand the regulations governing median openings. The code regulates how frequently median cuts are allowed along roadways.

“They went back to the land development code, and in the code it says you can only have cuts so often,” Murphy explained about the county’s justification for the median design. However, Murphy believes the situation warrants special consideration given the impact on residents. “Sometimes there should be exceptions to rules like this,” Murphy said about the rigid application of the land development code.

Murphy brought the issue before the St. Johns County Commission and proposed adding a new cut in the median to restore direct access to the neighborhood. “I went back to the board with, you know, can we go back? Can we put a cut in there at a cost to taxpayers?” Murphy said about his proposal to commissioners. The motion failed to gain support from other board members. “I didn’t get a second on the motion,” Murphy said about the lack of backing for his proposal.

Despite the initial setback, Murphy indicated the issue remains under consideration for future action. “It’s not necessarily a dead issue,” he said about continuing efforts to address resident concerns. “It is something that we are going to have to study,” Murphy added about potential next steps in resolving the access problem.

Murphy suggested a traffic safety study could evaluate the current situation and determine whether changes are needed to improve safety and access. “We could probably scrounge around and find” funding for such a study, Murphy said about identifying resources to move forward with the evaluation. The study would examine traffic patterns and safety implications of the current median configuration versus alternatives that could restore direct neighborhood access.