More than 100 miles of navigable waterways may be opened up to Florida sailors if the 45-foot-high Shands Bridge on Green Cove Springs’s St. Johns River is replaced with a proposed 65-foot bridge.

While there is currently no timetable for the project, the Florida Department of Transportation is recommending the bridge replacement to provide a better coastal evacuation route linking Jacksonville and the St. Augustine area. The Shands Bridge is located 42 miles from the intersection of the ICW and the St. Johns River, and the proposed bridge would open up great new cruising grounds for sailors heading south. Rebecca Waters