The long-debated Chick-fil-A across from First Coast High School in Jacksonville's Oceanway neighborhood is officially set to fire up the fryers Friday at 6 a.m., according to company materials. The 5,033-square-foot, single-story restaurant sits on roughly 1.39 acres near Duval Station and comes with a dual drive-thru that has been at the center of neighborhood angst. For months, North Creek residents lined up at public meetings to warn the city the project would clog traffic, endanger students and drag down property values.
As listed on Chick-fil-A, the address is 705 Duval Station Road and names Chuck Campbell as the local owner-operator. The company still tags the spot as "Coming Soon" and is hiring for front- and back-of-house roles as it moves toward opening day. Campbell already runs the Chick-fil-A at River City Marketplace and will add the Duval Station restaurant to his portfolio.
Opening Day, Free Food And Local Charity
In a Tuesday news release, the company said the Duval Station restaurant will open at 6 a.m. and operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To mark the grand opening, Chick-fil-A will donate $25,000 to Feeding Northeast Florida. The release also promises a little spectacle: guests who show up in cow spots or sporting a cow-spotted accessory can snag a free entrée or kid's meal on opening day. "We look forward to this opportunity to deepen our impact," Campbell said in the release, as reported by Jacksonville Daily Record.
Permits, Price Tag And Build-Out
City records show W.H. Bass Inc. pulled a building permit on November 21, 2025, listing construction costs at $1.3 million after a site-clearing permit was issued November 11 for $182,000. When you add in permits for a dumpster enclosure and canopies at the order points, the total construction bill lands just under $1.6 million for the 5,033-square-foot, dual-drive-thru build on 1.39 acres, according to Jacksonville Today. By late last year, crews had already cleared trees and installed erosion controls as site work pushed forward.
Traffic Fight And A Split Council Vote
The Chick-fil-A proposal spent months winding through public hearings before City Council voted 12-7 in June 2024 to approve a rezoning that allowed the latest design. As part of the deal, the city required a new traffic signal at Bradley Cove and Duval Station roads and a continuous right-turn lane into the restaurant to cut down on peak-hour backups. Those conditions were reported by News4Jax and outlined in the city's traffic impact study.
The traffic study, posted on the city's Legistar portal, modeled roughly 1,000 trips tied to the site and warned that without the new signal and turn lane, vehicles could stack up into nearby neighborhood streets. Dozens of North Creek residents told council members they feared the restaurant's driveways would funnel cars into their subdivision and block access during peak times. Parents also raised alarms about students walking to and from First Coast High School, citing worries about cars cutting through at busy arrival and dismissal windows, according to local coverage. Supporters countered that the signal and lane changes should soften the worst traffic impacts, though skepticism in the neighborhood has lingered.
Legal And Political Backdrop
Several council members said they backed the rezoning in part because they were worried about a legal challenge if the project were turned down, pointing to an earlier PUD approval that already allowed a fast-food use on the site. That concern surfaced repeatedly during deliberations, according to reporting by Jacksonville Daily Record, and helped shape the final 12-7 vote.
What Oceanway Should Expect On Day One
Neighbors can safely bet on a heavy turnout when the doors open. Dual drive-thrus are built to move cars quickly, but even those setups can produce long lines that spill toward nearby streets during lunch and dinner rush. Chick-fil-A has agreed to pay for the traffic signal the city required, and operator Chuck Campbell brings experience from running the River City Marketplace location and working with local community programs.
Drivers in the area should keep an eye out for temporary traffic patterns and crews wrapping up access improvements as the restaurant settles into a regular rhythm. Between the free chicken, the new light and lingering neighborhood doubts, Oceanway is about to find out in real time whether the city's traffic conditions are enough to keep cars from backing up into the streets residents have been fighting to protect.
