Florida State Road 21
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| Image:Florida 21.svg | |||||||||
| State Road 21 | |||||||||
| Length: | 54.01 mi[1] (86.92 km) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North end: | Image:US 17.svg US 17 & Park St, in Jacksonville | ||||||||
| Major junctions: | Image:Florida 128.svg SR 128 in Jacksonville Image:Florida 134.svg SR 134 in Jacksonville Image:Florida 111.svg SR 111 in Jacksonville Image:I-295.svg I-295 in Orange Park Image:Florida 224.svg SR 224 in Orange Park Image:Florida 23.svg SR 23 near Doctors Inlet Image:Florida 16.svg SR 16 in Penney Farms Image:Florida 100.svg SR 100 in Keystone Heights Image:Florida 26.svg SR 26 in Melrose | ||||||||
| South end: | Image:Florida 20.svg State Road 20, Melrose | ||||||||
| |||||||||
State Road 21 runs mostly in a southwest to northeast direction from Melrose to Jacksonville. It is also known as Blanding Boulevard for much of its length.
The Blanding Boulevard segment (Between Jacksonville and Middleburg) is named for the Army National Guard post in Clay County. Blanding Boulevard is four to six lanes from Jacksonville to Middleburg and narrows to two lanes south of State Road 16.
State Road 21 is one of three routes, along with Roosevelt Boulevard and Branan Field/Chaffee Road (State Road 23), that connect Jacksonville with its suburbs in Clay County. Congestion has become a problem over the years as local government works to develop infrastructure for the growing populations of Orange Park and Middleburg. Residents of both Clay County communities rely on Duval County (Jacksonville) for employment. As a result, traffic is heavy during morning and evening rush hour. Clay County officials are working to attract higher-paying, white collar jobs to lessen the need for large numbers of residents to commute.
South of Middleburg, State Route 21 narrows to two lanes and passes through rural southwestern Clay County, skirting the eastern boundary of Camp Blanding National Guard Base. The road scales gentle hills and passes several lakes before it enters the community of Keystone Heights. State Route 21 then passes through extreme western Putnam County and the town of Melrose before reaching its southern terminus 7 miles south of Melrose, at a junction with State Route 20.
[edit] References
- ^ Florida Department of Transportation. FDOT GIS data. Retrieved on June 25, 2007.
