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FDOT projects in Duval County carry roughly $34.9 million for right-of-way work in the state’s fiscal year 2027 through 2031 program, and about $30.8 million of that is budgeted to buy land. If you own or lease commercial property along Main Street, I-295, I-95, Heckscher Drive, or Beaver Street, here is where the money sits and what to do before an offer arrives.
Which FDOT Projects Are Budgeted to Buy Land in Duval County?
FDOT’s adopted work program dated July 1, 2026 funds right-of-way phases on 36 Duval County items. About $16.7 million of the county’s right-of-way money falls in fiscal year 2027, which runs July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. These ten items carry the most.
| FDOT item | Corridor | Right-of-way money | Fiscal years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 209411-9 | Main Street (US 17), Airport Center Drive to Max Leggett Parkway | $7.17 million | 2028, 2030 |
| 209301-4 | I-295, Southside Connector (SR 113) to J. Turner Butler Boulevard | $7.02 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 435577-2 | I-95, I-295 to Baymeadows Road | $3.36 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 448853-1 | SR 13 at the Rose Creek bridge | $2.43 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 448825-1 | Heckscher Drive (SR 105) over Browns Creek | $2.02 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 442778-5 | I-95 over 13th Street | $1.91 million | 2028 |
| 442778-1 | I-95 Myrtle Avenue ramp bridge, I-10 to north of Beaver Street | $1.49 million | 2027 |
| 437373-1 | Beaver Street (US 90) at Chaffee Road | $1.05 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 209411-8 | Main Street (US 17), south of New Berlin Road to Airport Center Drive | $1.02 million | 2027 to 2028 |
| 440389-2 | Baymeadows Road, I-95 to Baymeadows Circle East | $0.93 million | 2027 to 2028 |
A work program year shows when FDOT budgeted the money, not when an offer reaches a particular owner.
Is your property on one of these corridors? Talk with a Jimerson Birr eminent domain attorney before FDOT’s appraiser or right-of-way agent contacts you.
Main Street (US 17) North of Downtown
Main Street carries about $8.3 million across two widening segments near the airport and a signal project at Pond Run Lane, with the largest purchase line in fiscal year 2030. Our post on Main Street Jacksonville covers each segment.
I-295 From the Southside Connector to JTB
FDOT’s notes describe a widening from four lanes to six with interchange improvements, and say the item also covers right-of-way for JTB at Kernan Boulevard and for I-295 from St. Johns Bluff Road to Beach Boulevard. The item carries about $5.5 million for land purchase in fiscal year 2027 and $0.6 million in 2028, with no construction phase inside the five-year window.
I-95 to Baymeadows Road
Item 435577-2 widens I-95 from I-295 to Baymeadows Road, including a diverging diamond interchange at Baymeadows Road. FDOT’s notes on the item include the entry “ROW for ponds only,” which points to stormwater pond sites rather than frontage.
Heckscher Drive, SR 13, and I-95 Bridges
Four bridge items carry about $7.8 million in right-of-way money, about $7.4 million of it to buy land. Three of them, Heckscher Drive, Rose Creek, and the Myrtle Avenue ramp, also carry construction money in fiscal year 2027. A letter on these projects may also ask for a temporary construction easement.
Intersection Projects
Beaver Street at Chaffee Road, US 301 at I-10, and US 1 at JTB each carry between $0.8 million and $1.05 million. On a commercial lot, a turn lane can reach access, parking, and other business-critical features.
What Dropped Out of the Program
Three I-295 widening segments on the southwest, west, and north sides of the beltway carried about $48.7 million in planned right-of-way money for fiscal years 2028 through 2030 in the July 1, 2025 program. None appears in the July 1, 2026 program, a reminder that programs move every July.
What About Neighboring Counties?
St. Johns County carries about $5.7 million, including A1A north of Vilano Beach. Nassau carries about $2.9 million, almost all at US 17 and William Burgess Boulevard in Yulee. In Clay, the First Coast Expressway raises its own questions.
Under section 26.021, Duval, Clay, and Nassau make up the Fourth Judicial Circuit. Under section 73.021 of Chapter 73, Florida Statutes, a condemnation petition is filed in the county where the property lies.
What Can a Commercial Owner Claim in a Partial Taking?
Three categories, which section 73.071(3) leaves for the jury to decide. Any recovery depends on the facts and evidence.
- The land taken. Its value. Section 73.071(5) excludes value changes that occur after the project’s scope is known in the market and result solely from public knowledge of its location.
- The remainder. Lost value to the land you keep, or severance damages.
- Business damages. Available on a partial right-of-way taking by FDOT or another public body when the taking may damage or destroy an established business of more than five years’ standing, owned by the party whose land is taken and located on adjoining land that party owns or holds. It must be pleaded in written defenses. See business damages under section 73.071.
- Tenants. Tenants can have their own claims, often shaped by the lease’s condemnation clause, so commercial lease review belongs early.
Do you run a business on the land FDOT needs? Request a free consultation before the business damage clock starts.
What Deadlines Start When FDOT’s Letter Arrives?
In a right-of-way taking, two clocks run from receipt of notice or its return as undeliverable. Under section 73.015, the owner gets at least 30 days to respond to the written offer before FDOT can file suit. A business owner claiming business damages has 180 days from receipt of the business notice, or a later date both sides agree to, to submit a good faith written offer. For a business with several owners, notice to one counts as notice to all.
- On request, FDOT must provide the appraisal behind its offer within 15 business days, plus right-of-way maps and construction plans to the extent prepared.
- The business damage offer must be prepared by the owner, a certified public accountant, or a business damage expert, and sent by certified mail.
- Miss the 180 days without a good faith justification and the court must strike the claim.
- FDOT then has 120 days to respond. If FDOT rejects the offer or does not respond, the law treats that as a zero-dollar counteroffer when attorney’s fees are later calculated.
If FDOT files under chapter 74, the quick-take process adds its own deadlines.
Who Pays for Your Attorney?
In a condemnation case, the condemning authority pays attorney’s fees under section 73.092 and reasonable costs, including appraisal fees, under section 73.091 of Chapter 73. Fees depend on the result: 33 percent of benefits up to $250,000, 25 percent from $250,000 to $1 million, and 20 percent above that. For most claims, benefits are measured from the last written offer before you hired counsel, or the first written offer after if none came before.
On a road right-of-way taking, section 73.015(4) carries cost and fee recovery into a settlement reached before suit, on the terms it sets out. So it makes sense to talk with a Florida eminent domain attorney before accepting an offer.
From our Jacksonville office, Jimerson Birr represents Florida property and business owners when FDOT and other government authorities need their land. The work draws on our real estate development, sales, and leasing practice, condemnation attorney services, and easements work. Charles Jimerson’s practice includes eminent domain and property rights matters.
What Should You Check Before You Respond to FDOT?
These facts shape what you may recover:
- The date each notice arrived. The written offer starts the 30-day window; the business notice starts the 180-day clock.
- How much of the property FDOT wants. Driveways, parking, and signs inside the taking line change the remainder.
- How long the business has operated on the site, and who owns it. Business damages need more than five years’ standing and common ownership of land and business.
- Your lease. A condemnation clause can decide how an award is split between landlord and tenant.
- Your site plan approvals. Approved parking, setback, and stormwater numbers show whether the remainder still works.
These facts decide the outcome, and an attorney needs to review them against the appraisal and the plans.
Has FDOT asked to inspect or appraise your property? Talk with a Jimerson Birr eminent domain attorney before you sign a right of entry or respond.
How Can Jimerson Birr Help Duval County Owners Facing FDOT Projects?
If FDOT projects in Duval County need part of your land, Jimerson Birr can request and review the state’s appraisal and plans, work with real estate appraisers, and pursue remainder and business damages through our Florida eminent domain practice. Call (904) 389-0050 or request a free consultation. Waiting has a cost: FDOT can file suit 30 days after you receive its notice, and a business damage claim must be struck if the offer is late, absent a good faith justification.