Construction on SR 9B Continues to Advance

[blizz01]

Quote
St John's is one of the richest counties in the entire USA   Define "one of", it's not in the top 25.  I'm pretty sure its not in the top 50 either.

Obviously, there is relative wealth in St. John's County.  I suppose it depends on the criteria that you seek; but it certainly shows up (albiet, inconsistently) on "lists":

http://www.amerifound.com/wealthiest_counties_in_america.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_locations_by_per_capita_income

[Tacachale]

Phase 2, which backers hope will open large tracks of land to commercial and industrial development

No suprise who owns that land (Flagler).

When someone says that governmet subsidizes sprawl... this is the perfect example:  Building an expensive stretch of road not to relieve traffic, but so that land owned by extremely powerful developers can be more attractive to be redeveloped for commercial use.

Now that the road is being built (at no cost to the landowners) to subsidize this development... how long do you think it's going to take for the same landowners to start campaigning for impact fees being too costly to their redevelopment efforts?

See how eloquantly that works?

This is the history of Florida for over 100 years, writ large.

[Ocklawaha]

Im convinced that FDOT planners & engineers are making up shit to do now so they can have a job. What if they put all that energy and money into fixing the shit they have built for the past 50 years and making it more bicycle - pedestrian friendly.

All is not lost IF we make enough noise. I've got a direct line to one of the largest highway contractors in the country, in fact the manager/engineer of many of their projects is my neighbor. He was telling me the other day that things like a bikeway or even (and he suggested this) something like a cantilevered pedestrian/bike trail on one or more of our bridges, could be tossed in and used to 'sweeten' a deal... If FDOT/JTA/COJ demanded such.

[Ocklawaha]

Quote
St John's is one of the richest counties in the entire USA   Define "one of", it's not in the top 25.  I'm pretty sure its not in the top 50 either.

Obviously, there is relative wealth in St. John's County.  I suppose it depends on the criteria that you seek; but it certainly shows up (albiet, inconsistently) on "lists":

http://www.amerifound.com/wealthiest_counties_in_america.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_locations_by_per_capita_income

'Far out man!' Thank's Blizz, I was about the post the same thing! We also have some of the top rated public schools in the country... so we obviously need more FREEways! NOT!

[acme54321]

On the phase 2 aerial it shows the road going past I-95, doing a 180, and connecting up with some other road.  What's up with that??

[cline]

^I believe the original plan was to continue the road south of I-95 and it would ultimately tie into CR2209/St Johns Parkway somewhere between Race Track and CR210.

[Ocklawaha]

Looking at the map is often a clue to the intent, in this case it's pretty obvious they don't plan to quit at Race Track Road. BTW Acme, the 'some other road' is indeed Race Track Road. Hooking into Race Track will make I-95 accessible from Julington Creek Plantation. Continuing on to St. Johns Parkway would certainly pull some of the SR-210 rush traffic off of the super-slab and reroute them onto the new I-795 (AKA-9-B).

If they're going to go ahead with this thing, in fact many of these 'things', then I'd wish to see I-795, cross the river onto Flemming Island, perhaps even pulling the stupid Branon-Chafee Turnpike crossing up and merging them together. The down side of their current plan is they will destroy the potential future of Clay County Barge Port at Green Cove Springs. Though Clay is asleep at the helm, just like Jacksonville, their port is one of the very few in the entire country that has marine, rail and airport all within the same grounds. They could convert these assets into a super-job-generator, with extension of one or two of the runways, at the old Naval Base, and relaying the railroad track to reach the docks. BINGO, instant regional intermodal terminal.  For a similar terminal with a slight disconnect to the barge facility which is some miles away, see Huntsville (AL) Intermodal Facility.

[peestandingup]

Im convinced that FDOT planners & engineers are making up shit to do now so they can have a job. What if they put all that energy and money into fixing the shit they have built for the past 50 years and making it more bicycle - pedestrian friendly.

All is not lost IF we make enough noise. I've got a direct line to one of the largest highway contractors in the country, in fact the manager/engineer of many of their projects is my neighbor. He was telling me the other day that things like a bikeway or even (and he suggested this) something like a cantilevered pedestrian/bike trail on one or more of our bridges, could be tossed in and used to 'sweeten' a deal... If FDOT/JTA/COJ demanded such.

People have been making noise for decades & it hasn't gotten us anywhere. They've thrown a few crumbs here & there, but thats basically it. That money & the influences to keep things the way they are are too great. Its deep seeded & doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Its not about doing what's smarter, most cost effective or what's best for the people anymore. Thats obvious. And the south generally suffers from that more than anywhere in the US it would seem.

So while they're talking about putting in a high speed maglev up the east coast (DC to NYC in under an hour), on top of already suburb transit, bike & pedestrian systems (both in the cities & connecting them), we're still stuck in the past of more roads, using antiquated "transit" that's so bad that only the poorest of the poor who have no alternatives use it, bombed out downtowns, & keeping the sprawl train going at any cost to appease the masters.

[Anti redneck]

$17.3 million? Did I get that right? There's a lot of things that money could do instead of being wasted on some pointless project like this. In fact, what was the point of all that 9A construction a few years back if they're going to do this?

[tufsu1]

actually a lot of that 9A construction is why this is happening....the connection of the southeast leg of the beltway that was made a few years ago has led to significant growth in that part of the City (think Town Center, Gate Pkwy, and Baymeadows ext)

[CityLife]

Estuary Corp owns a huge amount of land south of JTB and east of 9a/9b. You have to imagine they will be making some big moves to extend Baymeadows, Kernan, Hodges into their realm. Especially with the development of Nocatee. Sadly, they have the money and clout to probably get whatever they want.

[thelakelander]

actually a lot of that 9A construction is why this is happening....the connection of the southeast leg of the beltway that was made a few years ago has led to significant growth in that part of the City (think Town Center, Gate Pkwy, and Baymeadows ext)

I still don't buy the whole argument that any of these new expressways are needed from a transportation capacity stand point.   IMO, after all the research I've done over the years, I still believe they are driven strictly for the sake of stimulating new land development.  Until we stop allowing the financial suckling of the taxpayer's teet for every whim don't expect anything to change.  This site screams future interchange and development all over it just like it did years ago on paper.





We've already put the bridge in place for what could be a four lane road built under it.  Whoever, owns that land could eventually be sitting on a cash cow since thousands of cars will be passing through it in a few years.

[CityLife]

actually a lot of that 9A construction is why this is happening....the connection of the southeast leg of the beltway that was made a few years ago has led to significant growth in that part of the City (think Town Center, Gate Pkwy, and Baymeadows ext)

We've already put the bridge in place for what could be a four lane road built under it.  However, owns that land could eventually be sitting on a cash cow since thousands of cars will be passing through it in a few years.

Doubt that was a coincidence. Estuary Corp owns a few thousand acres in immediate proximity to 9B, along with DDI Inc which is also some of the same people (Winn Dixie and Davis Family).

They also own most of the land between there and JTB (along with the Hodges Trust). I'm sure they all have a long term plan for how to extend the roads and open up the land for development.

If our local news was worth a damn, this would be an interesting research project...

[Ocklawaha]

While I'm certainly NOT a fan of more mindless highways, I would like to see this thing maybe attract the attention of the Brannon/Chaffee project and perhaps (maybe I'm dreaming) convince them to link to I-795 rather then going all the way south to the Shand's Bridge.

I think ya'll are onto something with reference to the large corporate land owners being in bed with the politico's in FDOT. I also wonder what is going on at the Deep Forest Airport, a state-of-the-art facility, that looks like it is expanding west of the current runway. Just wondering out loud if this plays any small part in the grand scheme. This airport is already home to a commercial jet charter airline.

FAA Information Effective:   2011-08-25
Airport Identifier:   FD48
Airport Status:   Operational
Longitude/Latitude:   081-26-59.3070W/30-14-30.8700N
-81.449807/30.241908 (Estimated)
Elevation:   24 ft / 7.32 m (Estimated)
Land:   50 acres
From nearest city:   12 nautical miles E of Jacksonville, FL
Location:   Duval County, FL
Magnetic Variation:   03W (1985)

Owner & Manager
Ownership:   Privately owned
Owner:   George Hodges, Jr.
Address:   Po Box 16771
Jacksonville, FL 32245-6771
Phone number:   904-509-8501
Manager:   John R. Cathey
Address:   5101 Hodges Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32245-7393
Phone number:   904-223-0153

Airport Operations and Facilities
Airport Use:   Private
Wind indicator:   Yes
Segmented Circle:   No
Control Tower:   No
Lighting Schedule:   PHONE REQ
FOR MIRL RY 18/36 CALL 904-509-8501
Landing fee charge:   No
Sectional chart:   Jacksonville
Region:   ASO - Southern
Boundary ARTCC:   ZJX - Jacksonville
Tie-in FSS:   GNV - Gainesville
FSS on Airport:   No
FSS Toll Free:   1-800-WX-BRIEF
Airport Services
Fuel available:   A1

Runway Information
Runway 18/36
Dimension:   6425 x 60 ft / 1958.3 x 18.3 m
Surface:   ASPH,
Edge Lights:   Non-standard lighting system
NSTD MIRL; INNER 5000 FT PORTION OF RY LGTD WITH WHITE LGTS; DSPLCD THLDS LGTD WITH BLUE LGTS; THLD LGTD WITH RED LGTS.
   

'

[tufsu1]

actually a lot of that 9A construction is why this is happening....the connection of the southeast leg of the beltway that was made a few years ago has led to significant growth in that part of the City (think Town Center, Gate Pkwy, and Baymeadows ext)

I still don't buy the whole argument that any of these new expressways are needed from a transportation capacity stand point.

let me be clear...I agree....I'm just saying that the construction of the nearby 9A facilitated development ion the area, leading to traffic growth, and some people's view that 9B is needed