JTA SCREWED AGAIN! Doing it half right won't win!

[Ocklawaha]

The FTU just posted that:

Déjà vu: JTA again misses out on federal money for Riverside Skyway extenstion
JTA officials say they stand behind the project and will continue to look for money elsewhere

By Nate Monroe Fri, Sep 12, 2014 @ 11:59 am

Plans to extend the Skyway station into Riverside, anchored by the construction of a new station in the Brooklyn neighborhood, suffered another blow as the Jacksonville Transportation Authority missed out on its second bid for a highly competitive $15 million grant.

It was déjà vu for JTA, which missed out on an earlier round of grants last year.

Despite the setback, JTA continues to stand behind the project — which would tap into an area of Riverside undergoing the most active revitalization efforts in or near downtown — and says it's "not discouraged about the future of the Skyway."

"The JTA still believes in this project and understands the importance of the Skyway connecting in this area," said JTA CEO Nat Ford in a statement. "So, I will reiterate we will continue to look for other methods to fund this project."

JTA applied for a little more than $15 million, which would have covered about 57 percent of the project cost, which includes the station, the extension and a bike-sharing program..

Only one Florida project received a grant.

Nate Monroe: (904) 359-4289
SEE:

http://members.jacksonville.com/news/2014-09-12/story/d-j-vu-jta-again-misses-out-federal-money-riverside-skyway-extenstion

Maybe a real commitment to true transit expansion would actually attract more attention. Toss the stadium, San Marco and Forrest Street at them and get the backing of Khan, CSX etc... Drop kick this over the top next time!

[thelakelander]

It's now officially confirmed...

My quotes from yesterday!

It appears JTA has lost again in its effort to win TIGER grant money to expand the Skyway to Brooklyn and bring Bike Share to Jax....

TIGER grant winners to be announced this week

News on the winners of the sixth round of TIGER, the popular federal grant program for innovative local transportation projects, is leaking out already, with formal release of the full list expected later this week.

It's always a poorly-kept secret when the winners of USDOT's TIGER grants are about to be announced because of the requirement to notify congressional representatives for districts containing a winning project a few days before the full announcement. As a result, news on some of the winners begins to leak out 2-3 days before the list of winners from USDOT is released.

Some that have already surfaced:

Bus rapid transit in Richmond, Va.
A project to expand the port in Norfolk, Va.
A new bridge on the border of Maine and New Hampshire
A system of downtown and waterfront street improvements that includes a new greenway trail in Waterbury, CT
A new metro station near an emerging job core in St. Louis, MO
And quite a few others.

We'll have the full list here as soon as it's released, and then add new winners to our full map of all six editions of TIGER grants dating back to February 2010. That's a great way to see the nationwide impact of this important program all at once.

Full article: http://www.t4america.org/2014/09/10/tiger-grant-winners-to-be-announced-this-week/

I'm an eternal optimist so do you have any more info Lake? Cause I don't see this suggesting that JTA hasn't won just yet... think there's still a good day or two for news to break before I'd throw in the towel. (and of course throw in the towel meaning look for alternative funding which apparently would have been necessary, to a lesser degree, anyway)

It's confirmed from multiple insider sauces..

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,21573.msg390115.html#msg390115