Florida State Road 243

State Road 243 (SR 243), locally known as International Airport Boulevard, is a 2.255-mile-long (3.629 km) state road in the northern part of Jacksonville, Florida. It runs from Interstate 295 (I-295) to SR 102 (Airport Road). The road's name comes from the fact that its northern terminus is at the entrance to Jacksonville International Airport.

State Road 243
International Airport Boulevard
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length2.255 mi[1] (3.629 km)
ExistedMay 7, 2004–present
Major junctions
South end I-295 in Jacksonville
North end SR 102 in Jacksonville
Location
CountiesDuval
Highway system
← SR 238→ SR 247

Route description

SR 243 serves mainly as a secondary access road for Jacksonville International Airport. The route starts at an interchange with I-295, and runs through mostly wooded areas and light industrial zones. Near its northern terminus, SR 243 has one intersection at a service road that leads to SR 102 (Airport Road) before ending at Jacksonville International Airport.

The road runs between two plots of land owned by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority and the privately owned Jacksonville International Tradeport, respectively.

South of I-295, the road continues as Duval Road and has a hidden designation of County Road 110 (CR 110).

History

International Airport Boulevard was constructed at the cost of $7.2 million, and opened on May 7, 2004 at 9:30 a.m.[2] Prosser Hallock was in charge of the project.[3] The route benefits those who are coming from the west part of Jacksonville. Beforehand, drivers coming to the airport from the west had two ways to get to the airport from I-295. The quickest way was to take I-295 to I-95 north, and use the Airport Road exit. Another way was to use the Duval Road exit (which now includes International Airport Boulevard) from I-295 and take a winding path to the airport using two local roads—Duval Road and Pecan Park Road. The new road created a straight shot to the airport from I-295 and shortened the drive from the west by about three miles (4.8 km).

However, the main reason International Airport Boulevard was built was in anticipation of future expansions to Jacksonville International, and in turn, more traffic to and from the airport. Future plans included expanding the airport's runways in 10 to 15 years, which in turn would result in the demolition of part of Pecan Park Road to make room for the larger runway.[2] Further plans include extending SR 243 even further north, and creating another access point to I-95 via the rerouted Pecan Park Road.[4]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Jacksonville, Duval County.

mi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
0.0000.000Duval Road south (CR 110 west)south end of state maintenance
0.140.23 I-295 (SR 9A) to I-10 / I-95I-295 exit 33
0.7971.283Pecan Park Road / Biscayne Boulevard to Duval Road north (CR 110 east) - Air National Guard, Air Cargo
2.2553.629 To I-95 / Airport Road (SR 102) / Service Road – Jacksonville International Airportinterchange
Pecan Park Road west to Arnold Road / Bainbridge Drive northSR 243 turns east onto Pecan Park Road.
I-95 (SR 9) – Jacksonville, SavannahI-95 exit 366; north end of state maintenance; Pecan Park Road continues to US 17.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 2014
  2. Bauerlain, David (May 7, 2004). "Newest Route to Airport to Open". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  3. "International Airport Boulevard". Prosser Hallock. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  4. "Jacksonville Aviation Authority Technical Assistance Panel" (PDF). January 22–23, 2013. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 10, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
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