GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Residents and members of the city council got a chance Tuesday night to see a final draft of an exhaustive study on the future of U.S. Highway 17 (South Orange Avenue) from Leonard C. Taylor Parkway to Orion Road.

The city has grappled for years with how to address additional traffic and the revitalization of the downtown area. Adding to the challenge is the lack of space to significantly widen U.S. 17 and the fact the highway is operated by the Florida Department of Transportation.

The city hired Kimley-Horn for the U.S. 17 Corridor Study Project. It tasked the consultants to “create a sense of place and community within the city limits through hardscape and streetscape improvements,” according to Green Cove Springs Planning and Zoning Director Mike Daniels.

Portions of State Road 16 and U.S. 17 already are heavily traveled, especially with large tractor-trailers that use the corridor as a shortcut between Gainesville and Interstate 95 in St. Augustine.

While the council said it hopes a lot of that traffic will be diverted to the First Coast Expressway once it’s completed, Kimely-Horn’s Terry Shaw said his company projects as many as 36,000 vehicles soon will pass through the city.

Councilman Ed Gaw asked how can the U.S. 17 corridor project help move traffic through the city while also luring many visitors to pull off the main thoroughfare to enjoy local shopping, restaurants and Spring Park.

One solution is to eliminate some of the left turn lanes to create more space for wider sidewalks and attractive landscaping.

Since it’s a state highway, the city is asking the state to pick up the expected $17.2 million tab.

“We want to see the wider sidewalks, more landscaping on one side FDOT is concerned and rightfully so about safety and trying to you know, mitigate for all the left turn turning movements,” Daniels said. “So that's what we're trying to work to come up with something that is going to be funded, you know, we can put together a great plan. But if it's not going to be funded, there's really there's no point, but we are still working.”

Once approved, the project is expected to take between seven and 13 years, Shaw said.

In other business, the city council approve rezoning of 13.92 acres at U.S. 17 and County Road 209 that moved a plan for a 276-unit apartment complex forward. Now that rezoning has be approved, the council still has to examine the plans for the complex before approving it at a future meeting.

Also, the council denied two rezoning requests on Roberts Street that would have moved forward a proposed seven-unit apartment building on one property and seven townhouses on another.

The next Green Cove Springs City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 21.