{"id":858014,"date":"2026-06-10T18:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/858014\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:13:24","slug":"a-year-after-teacher-1-year-old-son-killed-on-baymeadows-road-florida-legislature-funds-972k-in-safety-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/858014\/","title":{"rendered":"A year after teacher, 1-year-old son killed on Baymeadows Road, Florida Legislature funds $972K in safety upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla. <\/strong> \u2013 A little over a year after a Jacksonville elementary teacher and his 1-year-old son were killed crossing Baymeadows Road, the Florida Legislature has earmarked nearly $975,000 to install a pedestrian hybrid beacon crosswalk near Wicked Barley Brewing Company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/traffic\/2025\/07\/23\/fdot-recommends-pedestrian-crosswalk-on-baymeadows-road-after-deadly-crash-prompts-traffic-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/traffic\/2025\/07\/23\/fdot-recommends-pedestrian-crosswalk-on-baymeadows-road-after-deadly-crash-prompts-traffic-study\/\">recommended installing the PHB crosswalk<\/a> and a central refuge island on Baymeadows Road after the deadly May 2025 crash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Sen. Clay Yarborough requested a one-time investment of $972,000 for the project, and the funding was included when the Legislature passed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><b>READ: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/PublishedContent\/Session\/FiscalYear\/FY2026-27\/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests\/FY2026-27_S3163.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/PublishedContent\/Session\/FiscalYear\/FY2026-27\/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests\/FY2026-27_S3163.pdf\"><b>Funding request from Sen. Yarborough<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The money won\u2019t be guaranteed, though, until Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the budget. DeSantis has line-item veto power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">If the funding survives into the final budget, the improvements will be made near Goodbys Executive Drive, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2025\/05\/19\/father-killed-with-his-1-year-old-son-while-crossing-baymeadows-road-identified-as-bayview-elementary-math-coach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2025\/05\/19\/father-killed-with-his-1-year-old-son-while-crossing-baymeadows-road-identified-as-bayview-elementary-math-coach\/\">Mitchell Patch and his 1-year-old son, Everett, were killed while crossing Baymeadows Road<\/a> after leaving Wicked Barley Brewing Company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Yarborough\u2019s funding request said the enhancements are designed to improve pedestrian visibility and safety, and make the crossing more accessible for all users.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The funding breaks down into $120,000 for design, $170,000 for right-of-way, $595,000 for construction and $87,000 for construction inspection, according to estimates from the FDOT.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">According to the request, construction is estimated to begin in December of 2028 and finish in December of 2029.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Jacksonville City Council member Joe Carlucci, who represents the area, also advocated for safety changes after the deadly crash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">A traffic study conducted by FDOT revealed 12 crashes at the location since 2020, including two involving pedestrians and a bicyclist. <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A little over a year after a Jacksonville elementary teacher and his 1-year-old son were&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":858015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,350109,41199,3188,723,7310,8152,314,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-858014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-baymeadows-road","tag-fdot","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-safety","tag-traffic","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116727173009250915","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}