I-95 Overland Bridge project to begin January 2013

[thelakelander]

The “Big I” is done.

Here comes the Overland Bridge.

The state Department of Transportation plans to break ground in January on the $227 million project that will rebuild a 2.3-mile stretch of Interstate 95 from south of the Fuller Warren Bridge to north of Emerson Street.
Dubbed the Overland Bridge because part of the project entails replacing an elevated section of highway, the construction will unfold in an area where an average of 123,000 vehicles a day motor in and out of downtown.
The start of that work comes two years after the state finished the Big I, which is the junction of I-95 and Interstate 10 on the other side of downtown.

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-11-26/story/major-construction-project-heavily-traveled-i-95-south-downtown

[ChriswUfGator]

So we've spent more on a couple miles of roadway, when you add the I-10 interchange and this project together, than actual transit would cost to serve most of the city. But people bitch because it doesn't pay for itself. How does this pay for itself?

[Ocklawaha]

We've simply built ourselves into this box with the national interstate highway system.  The money if it were spent on mass transit still wouldn't address the 'overhead traffic' which is just passing through.  With the Overland Bridge literally falling down, it's simply got to be fixed.  The best scenario for us is to bite the bullet on this but use the construction to improve access to San Marco and the Southside of town, the Atlantic Interchange should do that.

[tufsu1]

So we've spent more on a couple miles of roadway, when you add the I-10 interchange and this project together, than actual transit would cost to serve most of the city.

well these are major arteries...and since transportation systems are like our own body's circulation system, they are fairly important...and while I'm not a huge fan of these massive projects, a significant portion of residents in the City use one or both of these fairly regularly...and honestly, a higher percentage than would likely use even a robust transit system