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City says decaying riverwalk will be repaired

Jacksonville residents who live near the sinking river walk on the south bank want it fixed soon.

“It’s been long enough,” Heather Ashe tells our partner Action News.  She says her pants have gotten caught up on some of the splinters on the wood.

“We noticed its really getting harder and harder to walk on the river walk because the boards are starting to fall apart,” says Tony Kimball, who uses the area for exercise.

The city closed the section of the river walk behind the Crowne Plaza Hotel two months ago for safety. Neighbors want to know what the holdup is to fix it.

"This is obviously more than a quick fix project this is a long term investment in the downtown river front," says David DeCamp, spokesperson for the City of Jacksonville.

He tells Action News that the city has a $15 million solution to the hazard, replacing the entire southside river walk’s wood with concrete, just like the north bank’s river walk.  He also says the fix won’t happen overnight.

“We haven’t set a groundbreaking date yet but we’re approved to start this summer,” DeCamp says.

The design is still in the planning process, but DeCamp says we can expect to hear more from City Hall in several months.

"We have some ideas, we're fine-tuning them and we can't wait to unveil them in public."

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