The bustling construction off Riverside Avenue by the Acosta Bridge in downtown Jacksonville presents an odd sort of upside-down world to people observing the site while they pass by it.
Earthmoving equipment has dug a big channel for the future route of McCoys Creek where it makes the final leg of its journey to the St. Johns River. But until next year, that brand-new channel won’t carry any water from the creek.
The current channel is full of water but it’s hidden from view — as it has been for decades — because it flows through underground structures that only a few have gone through.
But in spring 2025, the city will move the flow of the creek to the new channel, a shift resembling a railroad switching yard that takes a freight train from one set of tracks to another. The current underground structure will be filled in so water no longer flows through the existing channel.
“It’s going to be an incredible transformation compared to what it was,” said Kay Ehas, CEO of Groundwork Jacksonville , a nonprofit working with the city on the restoration of McCoys Creek. “It was totally underground and you didn’t know it was there. Now it’s going to be there in all its glory.”