Help plan the Duval County Courthouse Plaza

[thelakelander]

Another restriction included in the stakeholders' recommendation is that the design must account for the possible restoration of Monroe Street along the front of the courthouse.

"Nobody wants the roadway," but the DIA needs the option to restore that portion of Monroe Street to convince the Florida Department of Transportation to approve converting Adams Street from one-way to two-way traffic, said Glenn Weiss, Cultural Council public art program director.

This quote from the article was puzzling to me. Why would FDOT care? Neither Adams nor Monroe are FDOT facilities. If Adams were a FDOT facility, the two-way conversation would be with FDOT and not led by COJ or the DIA. Adams also has an AADT of less than 6,000 cars a day. These days, FDOT 's roadway design criteria is more multimodal friendly than COJ's. Chapter 126 of the FDOT Design Manual states that four-lane undivided FDOT facilities with an AADT of less than 20,000 cars a day are generally good candidates for lane diets. Two-waying Adams would essentially be a lane diet but it is no where close to that number. Heck, only two Northbank streets are. State and Union, both of which are well above it. So technically speaking, this is something that should be easy to push back on as well.

[Charles Hunter]

The Harrell and Harrell splash fountain! 
"We soak the other guys!"

And, to Lake's point about Monroe Street and Adams Street - I wondered why FDOT would care. The only place they even touch FDOT roads are at the I-95 ramps and Main/Ocean Street. I call Red Herring by DIA (or whoever invoked them).

[Peter Griffin]

There should be compromises that can be made that achieves the objectives of multiple perspectives.

What does this sentence even mean? What objectives could possibly be so pertinent as to require community involvement for an art installation outside of a courthouse? This area is boring and doesn't warrant being focused on in the context of Downtown Jacksonville. You can show me pics of other cities all you want, but nothing changes the fact that these blocks of DT Jax are uninspiring.

there should be opportunities for non profits, corporations, volunteer groups, etc. to maintain certain elements. Memorial Park in Riverside and Balis Park in San Marco are good example of this.

Those areas are pedestrian hotspots with lots of dining, bars, shops, and general niceties that people actually like to congregate in and care about. Nobody cares about the courthouse after the courthouse closes. Even when it's OPEN who would want to hang out here?

Gotta pick your battles. There are areas of DT that deserve attention and can be clustered, this isn't one of them. Let the city pay for an art installation. Allowing trees and seating in front of the courthouse would do little to nothing to help revitalize Downtown. Let's try to focus near Laura St and Bay, like the Elbow, not here

[thelakelander]

There should be compromises that can be made that achieves the objectives of multiple perspectives.

What does this sentence even mean? What objectives could possibly be so pertinent as to require community involvement for an art installation outside of a courthouse?

This is why professional planning and some knowledge of how we've got to this point in time, is important. Community involvement on public projects being funded with community money should be the most important aspect of any project involving public space. Also, art comes in the form of many things. It doesn't have to be a static art installation. It can also be interactive that attracts diverse amounts of people to the space. I know we all don't agree on everything but spending +$600k on static art would be a huge waste IMO and doesn't fully jive with the original intent.

As for what compromise means, it is pretty evident from previous meetings and the identified restrictions that there are competing perspectives for what this space should become. However, an either or solution should not rule the day. I believe you can create a space that is secure and adequately maintained that can include pedestrian friendly features like trees without compromising safety. I believe you can two-way Adams without spending an additional million or more on constructing a street through the green space. The Nashville courthouse is a great example of a design that merges the two perspectives. You'll see that it is open near the courthouse, yet features trees and pedestrian friendly amenities on the edge of the space.

This area is boring and doesn't warrant being focused on in the context of Downtown Jacksonville. You can show me pics of other cities all you want, but nothing changes the fact that these blocks of DT Jax are uninspiring.

It wasn't always boring. It was actually pretty vibrant and is very historically significant in terms of local African American, music and civil rights history. Much of that was largely erased due to systemic racism, ignorance and a lack of respect for history, culture and heritage of the LaVilla. Yet, given that history and heritage, with vision and coordination, we can bring this section of downtown back to life. To do that, selling Peter Griffin isn't exactly required but it is important for those who do care, to adovcate for something better instead of accepting status quo.

there should be opportunities for non profits, corporations, volunteer groups, etc. to maintain certain elements. Memorial Park in Riverside and Balis Park in San Marco are good example of this.

Those areas are pedestrian hotspots with lots of dining, bars, shops, and general niceties that people actually like to congregate in and care about. Nobody cares about the courthouse after the courthouse closes. Even when it's OPEN who would want to hang out here?

Actually, there is retail facing this park. The entire bottom of the courthouse parking garage is filled with restaurants and cafes. I've actually eaten in them several times over the years during my lunch breaks, when working out of my downtown office.



JEA is also preparing to construct a new structure facing this space. I understand you don't care about pretty pictures but this is still planned to break ground next month. So you have an immediate opportunity to interactively connect with pedestrian friendly uses on the east and south side of the street.



Then you have Broad, which is the old black business district of Jax and a place with significant civil rights, jazz and blues history. It's also a major BRT line with a BRT stop at the park. This stretch represents a great spot for placemaking and there some efforts already underway to do this.

Gotta pick your battles. There are areas of DT that deserve attention and can be clustered, this isn't one of them. Let the city pay for an art installation. Allowing trees and seating in front of the courthouse would do little to nothing to help revitalize Downtown. Let's try to focus near Laura St and Bay, like the Elbow, not here

You're right about picking battles. The things mentioned above is why this is one battle that may be worthwhile. Not to mention this is Adams Street, the one east-west street through the Northbank that has a chance to be the most pedestrian friendly and continuously lined with restaurants and retail between the courthouse and Ocean Street. Plus, no one is talking about moving heaven and earth. We're literally talking about how to incorporate some landscaping other than grass, planting a few trees and keeping ourselves from burning a million on a road that isn't needed.

[Steve]

Another restriction included in the stakeholders' recommendation is that the design must account for the possible restoration of Monroe Street along the front of the courthouse.

"Nobody wants the roadway," but the DIA needs the option to restore that portion of Monroe Street to convince the Florida Department of Transportation to approve converting Adams Street from one-way to two-way traffic, said Glenn Weiss, Cultural Council public art program director.

This quote from the article was puzzling to me. Why would FDOT care? Neither Adams nor Monroe are FDOT facilities. If Adams were a FDOT facility, the two-way conversation would be with FDOT and not led by COJ or the DIA. Adams also has an AADT of less than 6,000 cars a day. These days, FDOT 's roadway design criteria is more multimodal friendly than COJ's. Chapter 126 of the FDOT Design Manual states that four-lane undivided FDOT facilities with an AADT of less than 20,000 cars a day are generally good candidates for lane diets. Two-waying Adams would essentially be a lane diet but it is no where close to that number. Heck, only two Northbank streets are. State and Union, both of which are well above it. So technically speaking, this is something that should be easy to push back on as well.

Does it have anything to do with the Monroe St. ramp from I-95? I remember when they rebuilt that thing only for COJ to cut it off.

Personally, I wasn't thrilled they cut off Monroe St, but it's done now.

[thelakelander]

Can't imagine FDOT seriously caring. This is seven blocks east of that interchange and there's a compact city grid of streets. We're talking about a street with less than 6,000 cars a day (Adams) and another with less than 4,000 (Monroe). DT Jax is pretty dead from a traffic perspective. Heck, there's no reason for Monroe to be three lanes one-way. It needs a lane diet and two-way conversion of its own.

[Charles Hunter]

Once the other streets around the Courthouse are made 2-way, navigating around it will be easier, even without Monroe Street.

[Steve]

Once the other streets around the Courthouse are made 2-way, navigating around it will be easier, even without Monroe Street.

Does Broad remain one way? I mean, not the end of the world since it's only one block to Jefferson, but curious.

[thelakelander]

If Duval (another super low volume street) were two-way, it resolves any concern about extending Monroe through the space.

[Steve]

I'm assuming long term we convert everything to two way except State and Union, and maybe not Ocean, Main, Broad, and Jefferson. No reason anything else needs to be two way.

Personally, I'd love to do everything except State and Union, but I'm guessing those other 4 will create some heartburn.

[thelakelander]

You'll need some people in some positions to retire. You'll also need local roadway design standards to catch up with the FDOT design criteria (I think this is slowly happening now). This stuff isn't rocket science and compared to vibrant cities with people in their downtowns, DT Jax is just about as dead as it comes from a traffic perspective. Ultimately, it isn't FDOT stopping DT Jax from two-waying city maintained facilities in downtown. That's totally in the control of COJ and the DIA.

[thelakelander]

Btw, I just got off a conference call regarding a lane elimination project I'm working on. This one connects I-4 in downtown Orlando with the Milk District on a four lane undivided with an AADT of 18,500 (way more than the 5,700 on Adams and the 3,100 on Monroe). It happens to be a FDOT facility (SR 526) but through coordination with the City of Orlando will become a two lane with spot landscaped medians, mid-block crossings and a separated two-way cycle track. The plan is to coordinate the project through a resurfacing job coming up. If you can accomplish revamps on FDOT streets carrying three times as much of traffic in cities across the state, we can certainly do it on local streets that don't need FDOT approval and without having to build new alternative streets.

http://www.cflroads.com/asset/file/2833/2017-05-20_Exec_Summary_final_pdf

[Charles Hunter]

The Cultural Council has put out a "Call to Artists"

Call to Artists: Due Sept 22, 2020
On August 12, 2020, the Art in Public Places Committee approved the Call to Artists for the Duval County Courthouse Plaza and appointed the Art Selection Panel.
https://www.culturalcouncil.org/duval-county-courthouse1.html

The artists must live within these restrictions (slides 10 and 14 of presentation link on the linked page):

• No New Trees
• Reserved Space for Monroe Street (Single Lane, 25-foot ROW)
• No Water Features
• No Longterm Seating
• Easily Maintained by Lawn Mower, Leaf Blowing and Pressure Washing
• Video Security - new cameras, preserve sightlines
• Physical Security - swift cart access to all locations, bollards between public streets and hardscape
• Public Gathering and Freedom of Speech
• Public Drop Off - along 2-way Adams Street

Why Adams Street?
The slide show gives examples of plazas in other places. Not all of them seem to meet all of the restrictions.

[Steve]

So this will be a place that you can take a picture of but not use. Fantastic use of money.

[jaxlongtimer]

The Cultural Council has put out a "Call to Artists"

Call to Artists: Due Sept 22, 2020
On August 12, 2020, the Art in Public Places Committee approved the Call to Artists for the Duval County Courthouse Plaza and appointed the Art Selection Panel.
https://www.culturalcouncil.org/duval-county-courthouse1.html

The artists must live within these restrictions (slides 10 and 14 of presentation link on the linked page):

• No New Trees
• Reserved Space for Monroe Street (Single Lane, 25-foot ROW)
• No Water Features
• No Longterm Seating
• Easily Maintained by Lawn Mower, Leaf Blowing and Pressure Washing
• Video Security - new cameras, preserve sightlines
• Physical Security - swift cart access to all locations, bollards between public streets and hardscape
• Public Gathering and Freedom of Speech
• Public Drop Off - along 2-way Adams Street

Why Adams Street?
The slide show gives examples of plazas in other places. Not all of them seem to meet all of the restrictions.

After following all these rules, that mostly leaves spray painting the lawn as the only option available.  Oops, has to be easily maintainable.  Let's replace the lawn with colored sections of AstroTurf!  How do you go vertical and not impact sight-lines for security cameras, to start?