Clay County's "largest impact ever"

[spuwho]

According to the Jax Daily Record:

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544417

Clay County is calling the formal kickoff of construction of the First Coast Expressway the "largest impact ever in the history of the county".

The first phase of the project is under construction and slated for completion in 2016. It will run from I-10, south to Blanding Boulevard, easing traffic for Westside commuters driving to Cecil Commerce Center and to Jacksonville via I-10.

But the big payoff for residential developers is going to come from a later phase, Zalupski said, one that connects Green Cove Springs to I-95.

"It's going to be a big deal, because it will cut the commute time from Green Cove to the Southside to about 20 minutes. Thirty minutes to Downtown," he said. "Those are major employment centers."

The same commute now takes 45 minutes to an hour.

Access matters, because jobs drive demand for new homes, more directly so than freeways alone.

To compare, the majority of recent development in St. Johns County has occurred along the I-95 corridor south of Jacksonville.

"People in Clay County will be able to get to work, send their kids to A-rated schools and buy a house for $30,000 to $50,000 less than if they lived in St. Johns County,"

[thelakelander]

Great example of a transportation project being built for the purpose of stimulating economic development.  The problem is the initial capital cost and long term ongoing maintenance costs of the facility will cost taxpayers more than the revenue from economic development it stimulates.

[vicupstate]

Great example of a transportation project being built for the purpose of stimulating economic residential development.  The problem is the initial capital cost and long term ongoing maintenance costs of the facility will cost taxpayers more than the revenue from economic development it stimulates.

Correction.

[spuwho]

The comment that people will live in Green Cove Springs and commute downtown I thought was a reach. A commute to the Edge City on the Southside is plausible but the number of accidents at 95 and 210 each week is making that type of drive more difficult.

If i worked downtown, I wouldnt consider Green Cove Springs unless there was mass transit involved, specifically commuter rail.