City, county leaders respond to Ironman Jacksonville’s traffic mess

Drivers spent hours in traffic during the Ironman triathlon that spanned from downtown Jacksonville to St. Johns County.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City and county leaders are responding after drivers complained about the traffic during the inaugural Ironman Jacksonville triathlon Saturday.

In between a miles-long swim and marathon, athletes had to bike 112 miles from downtown Jacksonville to Ponte Vedra Beach in St. Johns County, leaving some drivers waiting in traffic for hours to get around.

First Coast News received several phone calls from drivers upset about the long backups along the route. The major roadway affected was Phillips Highway.

First Coast News traffic anchor Crystal Moyer stopped by the intersection of Phillips Highway and University Boulevard and Phillips Highway and Baymeadows Road, and spoke with drivers waiting in traffic.

One driver described the traffic as “horrible.”

Another driver said she didn’t have anything against the event and commended the athletes, but felt there wasn’t enough effort put into notifying drivers about the traffic impact.

“We’re letting the bikers go through and traffic is backed up at least two hours,” said Shelia King. 

Another driver, Mike Williams, had no idea Ironman was even going on at the time saying, “It’s been horrendous… I’ve been sitting here an hour and a half. It’s ridiculous.”

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had hundreds of officers along the route directing traffic, but one of the issues was when the group of nearly 2,000 athletes started to spread out on the bike course. Officers would have to stop traffic to let a couple bike riders through, then could only allow a couple more vehicles through before another biker approached.

Ironman Jacksonville had dozens of intermittent road closures during the event from 8 a.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday.

First Coast News reached out to the City of Jacksonville to see if there are any plans for a meeting on the traffic impact, as the city plans to host two additional Ironman events in 2027 and 2028. As of Sunday, May 17, we have not heard back.

First Coast News did, however, catch up with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan during Ironman for a response on the traffic complaints.

“We can always do better,” said Deegan. “We’ll have a debrief after this to try to figure out where we could have had better communication, but I will tell you, we’ve been trying to communicate this for a long time. I know it’s an inconvenience for one day, but just think about the benefit to the city.”

St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph chimed in on the traffic impact of the Ironman, saying on Facebook that she sat in traffic for three hours watching the “close calls of car vs. golf cart vs bikers.” In a post on her page, she said the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners did not vote on this event. She added that even the county administrator was unaware of the event. 

Keating-Joseph ends the post with, “I appreciate your patience and will make sure no future race will cause this degree of inconvenience.”

Ironman Jacksonville is a 140-mile triathlon that starts with a swim in the St. Johns River, followed by a bike course and ending with a marathon. Dates and information on the 2027 event have not yet been released. According to the event website, registration will be opening “soon.”