GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The construction along Sandridge Road has been a continuous concern for Clay County residents ever since renovations began last year. Some of the concerns included possible delays, detours and the traffic dilemmas. 

Thousands were inconvenienced when the road was closed for nearly two months last summer. 

Progress has been slow and steady but consistent as the county works to expand two lanes into three, to add gutters and to pave bike lanes. 

Commissioner Kristen Burke is no newcomer to angry calls, text or emails, but there was one voicemail she wanted to share with the other commissioners and families watching back home. 

"I know we don't usually do this," Burke said during last Tuesday's Board of County Commissioners Meeting. 

"I'd really like to address the citizens in our area. People are getting angry. Sandridge Road is not fun. We all know. We're all going through a lot in that area," Burke said. 

From there, Burke pulled out a cellular device and placed it up to the microphone. Apparently, it was a voicemail left by a constituent in her district who was critical of the state of Sandridge Road.

This is a transcription of the voicemail recording:

"Clay County deserves better than what you've allowed them, this company y'all contracted, to come over here to do the Sandridge Road. This road is a total joke. I'm sure you've had hundreds and hundreds of phone calls about the shape that it's in. You should be ashamed of yourself because you live in Clay County, and you should want better for all of us who live here and pay taxes. I hope something becomes of this."

Burke appeared to have a serious expression as she held the phone over the microphone and then set it down on the desk when it was finished. 

"I am ashamed," Burke said. "I am ashamed of people like you that talk about the hardworking people that are in our county right now working to make our lives better. It is not fun to have to go through what we're doing. And I live right there. I am a commissioner in that district," Burke said. 

"It's going to be nice when it's done. Yes, I understand it's horrible right now. But that road was built on top of sand. My husband said that's why it's called 'Sandridge.'"

She said the drainage system was essentially constructed from scratch. 

"It doesn't help at all for this anger to come out, threatening workers out there, threatening the flaggers. Come on. We're better than this."

Despite the criticism, Burke remains hopeful for the road's completion and the county's trajectory as it manages its growth. 

"Let's work together and get through this. In a couple of years, we're going to look back and we're going to say, 'Yeah it was hard, but thank God we did it.'"