Commuter Rail: Preliminary Station Locations

[Metro Jacksonville]

Commuter Rail: Preliminary Station Locations



As a part of JTA's ongoing commuter rail feasibility study, Gannett Fleming has released information regarding the potential station locations and wants your feedback.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/823

[Traveller]

Looks good.  I would have liked to have seen a station for NAS Jax outside either the Birmingham or Yorktown Gates, with an area for busses or shuttles to take people into the base (after proper security screening).  I also wouldn't mind seeing a station for the zoo.

I don't mind so much not having a station for San Marco Square since not many people seem to commute to that area.  I think it would be better served by local transport like a trolley line or skyway station.  I suppose a station could later be built at St. Augustine Airport if and when another commercial carrier begins serving that airport.

Are there plans for a western route along Beaver Street to Baldwin?  What about that proposed TOD at Philips Highway and River Oaks Road?

[Driven1]

there is a large & ever-growing population in nw st johns county, along with a large, existing population in mandarin, the beaches, arlington & the westside (out 103rd area) that will be missed by this.  anyway to include them (other than they drive to the nearest stop (anywhere from 7 to 15 miles away) and hop on the train.  if not now, feasiblity in the future?

[thelakelander]

These are the initial existing lines that they are studying to see if its even feasible to have rail service down them.  Anything requiring completely new right-of-way and track installment is most likely outside of the scope of what they are studying and won't be a part of a "initial" rail implementation plan.  For the time being, those areas would have to be served with better express bus service that has a coordinated schedule to drop riders off at the nearest rail station around the same time that the trains would arrive.

[Driven1]

These are the initial existing lines that they are studying to see if its even feasible to have rail service down them.  Anything requiring completely new right-of-way and track installment is most likely outside of the scope of what they are studying and won't be a part of a "initial" rail implementation plan.  For the time being, those areas would have to be served with better express bus service that has a coordinated schedule to drop riders off at the nearest rail station around the same time that the trains would arrive.

cool...if this thing ever does go through (the initial rail plan), then i think JTA should use the opening day opportunity to also highly publicize (and have operational on the same day) these new "better express bus services" that would work in exact coordination with the new commuter rail.  basically, i'm saying have the whole system up and running at the same time - not in phases. 

i would think the bus-part of this overall transit plan would be fairly inexpensive to implement.

[DevilsAdvocate]

there is a large & ever-growing population in nw st johns county, along with a large, existing population in mandarin, the beaches, arlington & the westside (out 103rd area) that will be missed by this.  anyway to include them (other than they drive to the nearest stop (anywhere from 7 to 15 miles away) and hop on the train.  if not now, feasiblity in the future?

Mandarin and NW St. Johns residents would only have to drive east to the FEC line to connect to the commuter rail system.  For beaches' residents, take JTB west until Philips and connect there.  Even if a line isn't in your backyard it can still reduce the amount of driving on  your daily commute.

[NatashaSkinner]

Coming from the southeast side, that route looks good.  My only concerns would be parking and the time it takes to get downtown.  Currently an Express bus from Avenues Mall takes an hour, no faster than the local route...not very express.  And currently I live at the far end of Baymeadows, so I would have to drive to the station.  Like DC, coordination between bus lines and train lines would be needed, so the bus lines feed to the train stations, often.  I'm originally from DC, so I'm used to getting from 30 miles out to downtown in 45 minutes.

[cline]

It would be nice to see a stop at JTB on the southeast corridor in order to serve the businesses in Southpoint. 

[comncense]

Based on those locations, I could see myself using it. I know initially it's not going to have stops all every area that's convenient for people but I wouldn't mind driving a bit to a station and parking and then taking the train to where I need to go. It would be nice if there were additional stops at Jax Beach and the Sports Complex / Fairgrounds. That's my 2 cents.

[Driven1]

there is a large & ever-growing population in nw st johns county, along with a large, existing population in mandarin, the beaches, arlington & the westside (out 103rd area) that will be missed by this.  anyway to include them (other than they drive to the nearest stop (anywhere from 7 to 15 miles away) and hop on the train.  if not now, feasiblity in the future?

Mandarin and NW St. Johns residents would only have to drive east to the FEC line to connect to the commuter rail system.  For beaches' residents, take JTB west until Philips and connect there.  Even if a line isn't in your backyard it can still reduce the amount of driving on  your daily commute.

"Driving east" for these residents means at least 9-10 miles for NW St Johns residents and not much less for Mandarin residents.  Mandarin is only about 10-12 miles south of downtown and NW St Johns is not that much further...so it wouldn't make a lot of sense for these residents to drive that far.  With Philips traffic and I-95 traffic, probably would make a little more sense for the beaches residents.  But...they would still be fighting the awful JTB traffic.

[Jason]

Very nice and looks to be pretty well thought out.  I am very excited to see some progress on this one.

Here are my suggestions....



North Corridor:

-  Looks pretty complete and should prove to be very successful (assuming the busses enhance it).


South Corridor:

- Either move the Timuquana Stop to NAS or add a stop at NAS.
- Drop the Russell stop


Southeast Corridor:

- Move University stop to JTP/Southpoint or add a stop at JTB/Southpoint
- Move SJC Complex stop to ariport (Conceptual Multimodal Station already in the works)
- Place St. Augustine station at Orange Street to take advantage of new city parking garage
  a couple blocks away.

[Driven1]

It would be nice to see a stop at JTB on the southeast corridor in order to serve the businesses in Southpoint. 

agreed...and the people coming in from hodges, pablo and the beaches on JTB and ultimately heading downtown.

[thelakelander]

North Corridor:

1. The Moncrief Road station should be shifted directly north of Shands Jacksonville.  There's a ton of city owned property there and it gives the community to opportunity to replace the bloody block with some positive infill development.

2. An urban station should be added on Mrytle Avenue, between Beaver St. and New Kings Road.  There's a ton of under utilized, yet strucuturally sound brick warehouse buildings in the area and the farmer's market and Edward Waters College are within walking distance.  On top of that, the neighborhood surrounding that area is very transit dependent, one of Jacksonville's densest and Mrytle already has a higher level of pedestrian traffic than most streets in Jacksonville.

3. The East 21st Street Station should be shifted to Liberty Street.  It offers more redevelopment opportunities with the Springfield Warehouse District, Main Street nearby, Swisher (1,100 employees) and the dense collection of existing residential under utilized housing stock.  We miss a huge opportunity to rebuild and encourage new development in established urban neighborhoods by running trains through that area, without stopping.  21st Street isn't that far away, but the redevelopment potential is not the same.

4. Jax Zoo/Hecksher - The feasibility of station should be looked at here.  With some type of coordinated bus service, rail passengers could have direct access to the zoo and the proposed Mitsui JaxPort Terminals.

5. The Duval Road Station should be shifted south to Airport Center Drive.  This would provide direct access, via express bus (maybe AirJTA), to Shands proposed medical center, River City Marketplace, the Airport Road hotels and JIA.

6. I'm not sure there will be decent ridership north of Airport Center Drive.  Unless the feasibility study states otherwise, it may be a good idea to terminate the north corridor line at Airport Center Road to reduce the costs and extend to Fernandina Beach (not just Yulee) at a later date.



South Corridor:

1. A station should be added at King Street.  With Park & King blossoming and anchored by St. Vincents Medical Center, this location is a natural fit for serving Riverside and North Riverside residents.

2. Either the Timuquana Road station should be shifted south to NAS Jax or a second station should be added at NAS Jax.  Its the largest employer in Jacksonville and it has a bus system that could tie into a rail stop at the main gate.  

3. I agree with Jason....drop the Russell stop


Southeast Corridor:

1. San Marco/Prudential Boulevard - This area needs more study.  If a station is placed here, it would compete against Skyway and the proposed BRT line in the area.  We're also missing a stop at Atlantic Blvd (San Marco Square).  Its already a walkable destination from the railroad crossing and once Publix goes in, it becomes a natural destination shoppers coming from other locations not served by full fledged grocery store or walkable shopping district.

3. Move University to or add another stop at JTB (although the railyard my complicate things here).

2. St. Augustine Airport - A few years ago, St. Augustine had plans to build a transportation center at their airport.  Ridership may be higher at the St. Johns County complex  in the short term, but if the airport expands another stop may be warranted.


When they get to estimating costs, two estimates should be done.

A. Estimates for lines that extend from downtown to Duval County's borders.

B. Estimates that cover the area shown in these drawings.

At the end of the day, each county should contribute the cost for service in their borders.  Doing such would spread the costs of the system to four different counties, thus not forcing one entity to pay the brunt of the costs.

[heights unknown]

Yeah it does look good and I concur and approve; but I agree with the poster regarding putting a station at NAS Jax.  I guess they figure that the Sailors can bus or auto it to Timuquana or the other nearest station but I think more traffic would come from NAS Jax, or, though it is in close proximity to Timuquana and the next station, put one at NAS anyway.

Heights Unknown

[heights unknown]

Looks good.  I would have liked to have seen a station for NAS Jax outside either the Birmingham or Yorktown Gates, with an area for busses or shuttles to take people into the base (after proper security screening).  I also wouldn't mind seeing a station for the zoo.

I don't mind so much not having a station for San Marco Square since not many people seem to commute to that area.  I think it would be better served by local transport like a trolley line or skyway station.  I suppose a station could later be built at St. Augustine Airport if and when another commercial carrier begins serving that airport.

Are there plans for a western route along Beaver Street to Baldwin?  What about that proposed TOD at Philips Highway and River Oaks Road?

Unless there has been a population explosion in western Duval and other points out west, would it really be feasible to create a western route along beaver to Baldwin?  Is the traffic along that route really that intense to justify that route?  I wouldn't think so.  How many people really commute from Jax or other areas to Baldwin and other points west?  Don't think this would be feasible or enough commuter interest to justify.

Heights Unknown