Notice the Main Street Bridge crossing the St. Johns River, officially the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge and known locally as the Blue Bridge. It was the second bridge built across the river and carries four lanes of traffic, signed as US 1/US 90 (SR 5/SR 10). This lift bridge opened in July 1941 after a three‑year construction run that began in 1938, built by the Mount Vernon Bridge Company at a cost of $1.5 million.
The War Department permitted the project in 1936, before World War II, and the bridge had a dedication ceremony on July 17, 1941. You can feel the weight of that engineering when you notice the trusses: it was built as a vertical lift bridge so the span can rise and let ships pass beneath. In 1957 the official name was dedicated to former mayor John T. Alsop Jr., yet locals and road signs still call it the Main Street Bridge or the Blue Bridge.
It links Downtown Jacksonville with San Marco and Southbank and remains one of the most recognizable features of the Downtown Jacksonville skyline. The blue lift span still frames the skyline stretching out before you.