Isaiah David Hart Bridge

Driving a convertible over the Hart Bridge at night. It’s a beautiful ride.
Top down car ride.
Full moon shining.
Night air whipping my hair into Medusa’s coiffure.
White stars gleam above the whizzing street lights.
Girders criss crossing overhead, hash tags against the deep blue sky as we zip high across the black St. John’s, city below glowing gold.
Feeling ageless, feeling free like a bird on the wing.
Thinking of stars, they wink at us but are long gone, like we will be to generations we will never see.
It’s fine though.
We have this night to feel alive.
A spring moon lighting our way in the darkness.

There was a while that I was going back and forth to a gig on Beach Blvd, near FSCJ’s South Campus, from the Westside. I tried going the long way ’round (295 from the Wilson exit over to the Atlantic or Beach Blvd exit, depending on traffic). That way sucked. As much as I love the Dames Point Bridge, there are just no back roads to get where I needed to go. Going south on 295 and around wasn’t going to happen either, because purposely putting yourself into the nightmare that is traffic on the Buckman, during rush hour, is asinine. This left me with one choice — the Hart Bridge.
I found the best route to go from my house on the Westside, all the way over to Beach Blvd, without ever getting on the highway. All I had to do was take West Beaver Street straight into Downtown to hop the Hart all the way out to my destination. Before the Hart Expy, my commute was close to an hour and 15 minutes. This brought it down to 45 minutes DURING rush hour. Seriously, don’t be that person that depends on 295 to get you where you need to go. If you have a heart, you should take the Hart.

I can’t imagine Isaiah David Hart (November 6, 1792 — September 4, 1861) the founder of Jacksonville could of ever imagined that crossing the St. John’s River could be so easy. If you look at the man there are a lot of similarities to the «Green Monster» like the bridge there are things you can love and things that aren’t so appealing but that’s the nature of being a man of the times or a bridge. An example of this is Hart was described as «an eccentric character» I think unusual, peculiar, or odd is an appropriate description of both, as a commissioner of pilotage Hart had the responsibility to prevent the loss of human lives, loss of property and vessels, and to protect the marine environment I think the Isaiah David Hart Bridge mirrors some of those attributes.

I had to take the Hart Bridge because of an accident on top of the Matthews Bridge, it worked out just fine.

How does one rate & review a bridge. I am gonna try…
They keep it up to date, maintenance and structurally wise. It stays clean and its a smooth ride across. There I did it!!!

If you run the Gate River Run 15K, you’ll call this the Green Monster since it’s the last mile of the 9.6 miles that you have to basically push (I mean mother freaking haul!!) yourself to finish. For the first year I ran that 15K, it wasn’t such a mean bridge, but the second time I did the run (since I hadn’t prepared…), it really was a m-​m-​m-​m-​monster!
For the rest of us, it’s just a simple bridge that takes you from Forsyth Street in Downtown to Atlantic and Beach Blvd without having to go through Arlington or the Arlington Expressway. If you work closer to the south bank of downtown, you might prefer this bridge since it seems to rarely have the amount of traffic like Mathews does.
Plus, I like that this bridge feels a lot more stable and less scary to ride over than the Mathews Bridge.
During the Gate River Run, this bridge provides a beautiful view. On regular days, however, it’s not a very pedestrian friendly bridge.

The Hart Bridge was named after the founder of Jacksonville, Isaiah Hart, and is apparently called the «Green Monster» by locals for its green paint exterior… according to Wikipedia. I have lived in Jacksonville almost my entire life and I have never heard ANYONE call it that. Ha!
In my mind, its like a gentle giant. It soars high into the air, connecting Downtown [by the Sports park] and the Martin Luther King Expressway to Beach Blvd [between San Marco and Arlington]. However, despite its great height and stunning aerial views of the city [with beautiful views of the lush landscape], it is not all that steep and seems kind of peaceful in comparison to its neighbor, the Matthews Bridge.
Another great thing about this bridge is that it comes from one expressway to another… It can dash you through Jacksonville’s sketchy downtown neighborhoods via the MLK and cut across at least a third of the distance to the beach on the Beach Blvd Expressway! Very convenient.
I love this bridge for its graceful beauty. Looking out over the top of this bridge is one of the most peaceful places in Jacksonville, in my opinion. The Gate River Run, Jacksonville’s famous race, runs right over the top of the Hart Bridge and provides the perfect opportunity to take it all in… with some panting and sweating, that is.