State Road 115 (SR 115) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

History

SR 115 was built in separately named segments by the Jacksonville Expressway Authority. The land for the southern section, south of Beach Boulevard, was donated by Jacksonville's Skinner family. Three siblings – Bryant, Dottie and Richard Jr. – inherited thousands of acres in southeast Duval County and needed roads through the area to access their property and facilitate development. The construction of Southside Boulevard was key to the growth of the south side of Jacksonville.

Route description

Southern segment

SR 115 runs north as ''Southside Boulevard'' from its terminus at

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort ...

, providing access to The Avenues. Right afterwards, the road goes through the largely residential and commercial south side of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

with crossings at Baymeadows Road ( SR 152), Butler Boulevard ( SR 202), Beach Boulevard (

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

), and Atlantic Boulevard ( SR 10). At the Southside Connector ( SR 113), SR 115 turns sharply to become the

Arlington Expressway The Arlington Expressway, which carries the unsigned State Road 10A (SR 10A) and mostly also the signed State Road 115 in Jacksonville, Florida, is a freeway that heads east from Downtown Jacksonville over the Mathews Bridge to Atlantic Boulev ...

, heading west into downtown via the

Mathews Bridge The Mathews Bridge is a cantilever bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, which spans the St. Johns River. Constructed in 1953, the bridge brings traffic along the Arlington Expressway between downtown Jacksonville and the Arlington neighborhood. It ...

, where it turns north, becoming the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway (former Haines Street Expressway), and again turning to the west along with the MLK Parkway (now the former 20th Street Expressway), before reaching

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

. The portion of the MLK Parkway is signed only as US 1 Alt. and

, not SR 115. The southern segment serves primarily as a conduit between the residential neighborhoods of Southside and the commercialized areas farther north and downtown. Heavy traffic is commonplace along most of the road. To improve traffic flow, especially during rush-hours, in 2023 the

FDOT The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...

installed Florida's first double median U-turn intersection at the interchange with Beach Blvd. (US 90). In 2024 it also completed a major redesign of the intersection just north of the

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

with SR 202 (Butler Boulevard expressway) and in the same year began reconstructing the intersection just south of the interchange. The new intersections' designs replace some of the left turn movements with

Michigan left A Michigan left or P-turn is an at-grade intersection design that replaces each left (farside) turn at an intersection between a (major) divided roadway and a secondary (minor) roadway with the combination of a right (nearside) turn followed ...

turns in order to reduce the number of traffic light phases.

Northern segment

Approximately two miles of SR 115 run unsigned along I-95. The second section of signed road runs from the junction of I-95 and Norwood Avenue ( SR 117) through northwest Jacksonville, passing through the Lake Forest section of the city before crossing a bridge over the

Ribault River Ribault River is a tributary of the Trout River. It is located entirely in Jacksonville, Florida. The river is named after Jean Ribault, a French naval officer. The river's headwaters are near Old Kings Road at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, where it enters Riverview and then crosses another bridge over the Trout River into the eastern edge of the College Park neighborhood, before entering the Garden City neighborhood at the intersection with

Florida State Road 104 State Road 104 (SR 104), locally known as Dunn Avenue, is a state highway that travels through the northern part of Jacksonville in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It connects US 1/ US 23 with US 17. ...

. FL 115 continues through Garden City, until the interchange with

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...

and runs between the Forest Trails and the territory near the

Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville International Airport is a civil-military public airport 13 miles (21 km) north of Downtown Jacksonville, in Duval County, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. History ...

before crossing a bridge over the Thomas Creek where it crosses the Duval-Nassau County Line, and ending at New Kings Rd (

US 23 U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south a ...

) in Callahan. The northern segment has the same function as the southern, except that it is built to lower standards and carries traffic south from the densely populated areas northwest of downtown into the heart of the city. Northbound, it is also an alternative to US 1/US 23 as a route to Callahan.

Exit list

SR 115A

Two unsigned sections of State Road 115A (SR 115A) exist in close proximity to each other east of

Downtown Jacksonville Downtown Jacksonville is the historic core and central business district (CBD) of Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It comprises the earliest area of the city to be developed and is located in its geographic center along the narrowing point ...

. One is the approximately stub of MLK Parkway south of SR 115; the other carries US 1 Alt. for between the

Hart Bridge The Isaiah David Hart Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It carries U.S. Route 1 Alternate (US 1 Alt.) and State Road 228 (SR 228). It is named after Isaiah Hart, the founder ...

( SR 228) and MLK Parkway (SR 115). Some sources (including FDOT's straight line diagrams) indicate a third SR 115A on the ramps connecting SR 115 to

at exit 340.

References

{{reflist 115 115 115 115