You'll want to avoid Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road most of the day Friday after a sport utility vehicle took out the electrical box that feeds the traffic light, leaving the intersection completely dark.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says it happened around 1 a.m. when an individual driving an SUV northbound on Southside lost control of the vehicle approaching Baymeadows, striking the electrical box.
We're told the driver was transported by rescue to a hospital for treatment. The driver was not believed to be under the influence, but JSO says it's unclear for now why the SUV ran off the road.
JEA crews were on scene most of the overnight but left around 5 a.m. after repairing some of the damage. A spokeswoman for JEA tells us they've done all the repair work they can do for now and it's up to the City of Jacksonville to replace the damaged box before they can come back in to restore the power.
The lights are expected to resume working by close of business today, according to City of Jacksonville spokeswoman Tia Ford.
"[The] signal has fiber optics connections and video detectors that will require additional time to repair," Ford added.
JSO is asking all drivers who travel through Southside and Baymeadows to get to FSCJ, the Avenues, or to get home to treat the intersection as a four-way stop until the lights are fixed and to obey the commands of the officers in the intersection guiding traffic.
Traffic lights out at Southside and Baymeadows after an SUV takes out an electrical box. Story at WOKV.com.
Posted by News 104.5 WOKV on Friday, August 26, 2016
Crews working on the traffic light outage at Southside & Baymeadows. @CityofJax says should be fixed by end of day. pic.twitter.com/WcBk6pcjIl
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
.@CityofJax tells me traffic lights at Southside & Baymeadows should be working again by close of business today. pic.twitter.com/xLfDL9IlA3
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
.@CityofJax sends crew to start work. Traffic lights out at Southside & Baymeadows. Should be fixed by end of day. pic.twitter.com/atW8VDbOAY
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
.@JSOPIO officers looking at the damage. SUV knocked out electrical box at Southside and Baymeadows this AM. pic.twitter.com/IWnMXavUHf
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
Electric box controlling traffic lights at Southside & Baymeadows destroyed by SUV. @JSOPIO directing traffic. pic.twitter.com/IHKXE2CxqW
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
The reason why traffic lights are out at Southside and Baymeadows this AM. SUV ran into electrical box. @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/vnKmhrhGJy
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
Video of @JSOPIO directing traffic after SUV knocked out traffic lights. Could be a mess this AM. @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/zaZzIPbHLH
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
Traffic picking up on Southside & Baymeadows. @JSOPIO directing traffic after SUV knocked out traffic lights this AM pic.twitter.com/WNt8N0rfRO
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016
.@JSOPIO directing traffic at Southside Blvd & Baymeadows Rd after SUV knocks out traffic lights. Story @WOKVNews. pic.twitter.com/nm4M9wIWXB
— Robert Alonso (@RAlonsoWOKV) August 26, 2016