Created: 10/2/2009 5:10:40 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The orange cones that line Bay Street during big events will soon be a thing of the past.
"It's tough to get around in Downtown on game days. It's even more frustrating on Georgia/Florida. That's probably the worst," says Brian Corry.
But thanks to 16 supports stretched out over Bay Street things should get better.
Soon, with just a flip of a switch, the city will be able to open and close lanes. It will ease traffic at 14 events, including Jaguar home games and Florida/Georgia.
And the $3 million project will save the city some cash down the road.
"Right now, about $75,000 a year goes to these 14 events for just cones. To put them in, take them out, replace them because some people like cones," says Joey Duncan, the director of Public Works.The cones will no longer be needed; green arrows and red lights will direct drivers instead.
"If there's an emergency during traffic coming in, and we have to get someone out, we can actually open a lane to get people out," says Duncan.
The state-of-the-art system will ease up some of JSO's duties, too. "The sheriff will choose to re-deploy officers and put them in more critical functions. This will lessen the strain on them on Bay Street."
While the regular signals still will control traffic, the new system will be on around the clock, marking the direction of lanes.
That means the street has to be resurfaced and restriped to match the lights, and that should happen in the next three weeks. The work will be done at night.
The city says the system will be tested for the Jaguars home game on Oct. 18. The system should be running full-time for the Florida/Georgia game.
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