There are no good options for Jaguars during stadium construction

With the closure of the intersection of Henley and Sandridge roads, folks in Lake Asbury are learning that growth comes with growing pains.

The county needed to widen Sandridge Road to keep up with the plans to build hundreds of new homes. But to get there, it required the intersection to be closed for two months.

In the process, thousands have been barricaded from local restaurants, groceries and gasoline.

Jacksonville Jaguars fans will soon learn a major step toward the future requires stubbing your toe.

The franchise announced it would transform TIAA Bank Field into a futuristic venue that will attract major concerts, college playoff games and make the Jaguars one of the elite teams in the NFL.

That means the team will need a new place to play for at least two years.

Although Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the city’s goal was to keep the Jaguars in town during the project, the team’s sudden surge to the top of the AFC South standings is no longer feasible.

The University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium seats 12,000.

The Jumbo Shrimp play at 121 Financial Ballpark can only hold 11,000 fans on a good day.

Edward Water’s Nathaniel Glover Community Field seats 5,000.

Let’s face it: nobody really thinks Jacksonville is an alternative.

That leaves four realistic stadiums – the University of Florida, UCF, Florida State, Camping World Stadium, England and the Daytona International Speedway.

Each has its upsides, but all come with a lot of baggage. Let’s examine each.

The most-popular place would be Florida Field. It’s about an hour away and offers more than 88,000 seats. The downside, however, is traffic and field conditions.

While the Gators have no problem selling out the stadium for home games, tens of thousands of the fans are students who live on campus. There simply isn’t enough parking at our around the campus.

Also, Florida will play at least five home games in 2025 when construction starts and probably will play at least six in 2026. That means the Jaguars would be playing on a field that, no doubt, will have a lot of divots and chewed-up turf.

Florida State has the same issues. And since it’s 170 miles away, it’s not an option.

UCF is 140 miles away, and it’s not an easy drive. It shouldn’t be considered because it only holds 44,000 – and will be going through its own expansion project as it moves into the Big 12.

The Jaguars are likely to play two games in Europe in 2025 and 2026, and any idea of playing home games there would be greeted with great disappointment and ire.

Camping World Stadium in Orlando, formerly the Citrus Bowl, is big enough with 60,000 seats. And it’s an easy drive, even if it’s 142 miles away.

There is precedence for playing away from a home stadium during renovations. The New Orleans Saints played games at LSU Tiger Stadium during the 2005 season following Hurricane Katrina. They also played in Baton Rouge while the Superdome was being built and during brief renovation projects.

The trip was about 82 miles and was an easy drive on Interstate 10. While Orlando is the best option, it’s probably too far away. e speedway. Daytona has 101,500 seats, but most are too far from the likely field in the infield grass. Even those with 50-yard line seats would be about 50 yards away from the action, and about 70,000 of those seats would be more than 100 yards beyond the end zones.

Instead of picking the best solution, we probably will be forced to accept a long drive or poor sightlines – all in the name of progress.

“This is also all happening at a fantastic time for everyone,” Jaguars owner Shad Kahn said. “Jacksonville is red hot. Just check out all of the recent rankings – best places to live, best housing market, hottest job market, best place to start a business, Jacksonville ranks within the Top 5 in all of those lists.”

But as everyone in Lake Asbury knows, it comes with a hefty price.