FDOT to widen I-95 through LaVilla

[Tacachale]

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has plans to expand Interstate 95 through the heart of LaVilla. Here is a look at what is currently proposed and additional information on upcoming project related public meetings.

Read more: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/fdot-to-widen-i-95-through-lavilla/

[WarDamJagFan]

40 years of road projects within 1 square mile of highway. Make it make sense.

[acme54321]

40 years of road projects within 1 square mile of highway. Make it make sense.

It never ends.

[tufsu1]

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

[Charles Hunter]

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

Didn't USDOT (FHWA) give FDOT the right to approve their own PD&E Studies a few years back?

Question - is there really that much traffic that wants to go from (to) I-95 to (from) Beaver Street (US 90) to justify those parts of the project?

[JaGoaT]

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

Didn't USDOT (FHWA) give FDOT the right to approve their own PD&E Studies a few years back?

Question - is there really that much traffic that wants to go from (to) I-95 to (from) Beaver Street (US 90) to justify those parts of the project?

Future growth that neighborhood is gonna get a lot of spill over residents due to Brooklyn/riverside & Expansion of Edward Waters.

[jaxlongtimer]

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

Didn't USDOT (FHWA) give FDOT the right to approve their own PD&E Studies a few years back?

Question - is there really that much traffic that wants to go from (to) I-95 to (from) Beaver Street (US 90) to justify those parts of the project?

Future growth that neighborhood is gonna get a lot of spill over residents due to Brooklyn/riverside & Expansion of Edward Waters.

Per the FDOT website on this project, this is the justification:

The purpose of this project is to improve safety, capacity, and overall traffic operations in order to accommodate future population and economic growth in Duval County.

This project is needed to address existing and future congestion, improve regional mobility for the delivery of goods and services, decrease emergency and hurricane clearance times, and to improve overall safety of the I-95 corridor and Myrtle Avenue Bridge.

During the last two decades, the population of Duval County has increased from 779,00 to 957,000 and is projected to increase to 1,116,000 by year 2045. Without any improvements, the traffic volumes will continue to increase, and congestion will get progressively worse. As a result, the entire segment of I-95 within the study limits will operate at Level of Service (LOS) F during peak hours by 2045.

Similar to the grading system used in schools, FDOT uses a six-letter Level of Service (LOS) grading system to assess how well a roadway is operating in its existing configuration. Level of Service (LOS) A is considered to be excellent performance, while an LOS F is considered failing performance.

Within the proposed project limits, I-95 currently serves about 147,000 vehicles per day. I-95 is operating between Level of Service D and Level of Service F.

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

Looking at their chart, I think this is a typo.  Probably should be 2026 or later, not 2023.  Right of Way isn't scheduled until 2025 so that is what I am taking as a clue.

[Jagsdrew]

I threw this comment on the IG post but with these operational projects, we have to really voice the concern of FDOT coming in and just making a concrete jungle with these highway projects. Integrating the neighborhood and other aesthetics are simple low hanging fruit but instead it's so low the FDOT just punts it away.

The steel arch bridge....allocate some funding in that project to tie it into JWJ or LaVilla and make it colorful, vibrant and a focal point for the area. It's simple.

Same with the proposed roundabout. Make the middle some type of beacon or central point of the redevelopment of the off/on ramps. 

We're getting the short end of the stick the FDOT with our road projects and if you drive in other cities like Miami or Orlando, you see how their road projects are far more superior and have more "plus ones" then what we get up here.

[Charles Hunter]

question - how do they go from a PD&E study this year to construction starting next year?

Didn't USDOT (FHWA) give FDOT the right to approve their own PD&E Studies a few years back?

Question - is there really that much traffic that wants to go from (to) I-95 to (from) Beaver Street (US 90) to justify those parts of the project?

Future growth that neighborhood is gonna get a lot of spill over residents due to Brooklyn/riverside & Expansion of Edward Waters.

Per the FDOT website on this project, this is the justification:

The purpose of this project is to improve safety, capacity, and overall traffic operations in order to accommodate future population and economic growth in Duval County.

This project is needed to address existing and future congestion, improve regional mobility for the delivery of goods and services, decrease emergency and hurricane clearance times, and to improve overall safety of the I-95 corridor and Myrtle Avenue Bridge.

During the last two decades, the population of Duval County has increased from 779,00 to 957,000 and is projected to increase to 1,116,000 by year 2045. Without any improvements, the traffic volumes will continue to increase, and congestion will get progressively worse. As a result, the entire segment of I-95 within the study limits will operate at Level of Service (LOS) F during peak hours by 2045.

Similar to the grading system used in schools, FDOT uses a six-letter Level of Service (LOS) grading system to assess how well a roadway is operating in its existing configuration. Level of Service (LOS) A is considered to be excellent performance, while an LOS F is considered failing performance.

Within the proposed project limits, I-95 currently serves about 147,000 vehicles per day. I-95 is operating between Level of Service D and Level of Service F.

Not sure if you were responding to my "I-95/Beaver" connection question, but the generic FDOT project justification does not address that issue.

[ralpho37]

I threw this comment on the IG post but with these operational projects, we have to really voice the concern of FDOT coming in and just making a concrete jungle with these highway projects. Integrating the neighborhood and other aesthetics are simple low hanging fruit but instead it's so low the FDOT just punts it away.

The steel arch bridge....allocate some funding in that project to tie it into JWJ or LaVilla and make it colorful, vibrant and a focal point for the area. It's simple.

Same with the proposed roundabout. Make the middle some type of beacon or central point of the redevelopment of the off/on ramps. 

We're getting the short end of the stick the FDOT with our road projects and if you drive in other cities like Miami or Orlando, you see how their road projects are far more superior and have more "plus ones" then what we get up here.

This is a concern I've raised a couple of times and have even emailed FDOT about. It bugs me to no end to see 40 miles solid of I-4 through Orlando getting crazy LED lighting features, extravagant cable-stayed pedestrian bridges with the names of suburbs on them and palm trees and dolphin designs etched into their sound walls while they didn't even bother to finish applying the "Jacksonville Beige" paint to the Overland Bridge project.

We really do get the short end of the stick on road projects here in Jax and FDOT doesn't even try to hide it.

[heights unknown]

A lot of spaghetti to deal with as it is, but I guess it is needed for I-95 which is extremely busy and seems to be getting busier. Only thing is, they've been working on I-10 it seems forever, and, I hope the same doesn't happen to I-95; would be another headache to deal with in addition to I-10.

[Charles Hunter]

Well, get ready HU, from the FDOT I-95 project website https://nflroads.com/i95

Starting downtown at Atlantic Blvd. (overland bridge) - years when construction is scheduled to begin on segments to I-95
JTB to Atlantic Blvd - 2023
Baymeadows to JTB - 2023
I-295 to Baymeadows - 2025
First Coast Expressway (aka Outer Beltway) to I-295 - 2025
International Golf Parkway to FCE - 2023

[marcuscnelson]

I decided to do the math the other day, and from International Golf Parkway to Beaver Street there's over $1.5 billion of reconstruction and expansion that has either recently happened, is happening, or is going to happen on the I-95 corridor. That's not including the additional $2 billion or so being spent on the I-295+SR9B combo, I-10, and the First Coast Expressway. And none of that includes the money going into all the big arterial roads like Beach Blvd.

For how much money is being poured into roadway projects I find it hard to imagine people will ultimately feel like traffic is being resolved to any useful degree. And it's not like all these roads feel pleasant to drive on anyway.

[jaxoNOLE]

When an individual project is justified, it's usually with the rationale that the temporary disruption to daily life is worthwhile for the long term gain.

Is capacity actually increased when a road is under constant construction to increase said capacity? I-95 and I-10 through DT kinda feels like one of those IT projects that never makes it out of beta.

[Charles Hunter]

Capacity is increased - at the end of the project.
But ... traffic soon increases to fill that capacity.
Creating a "need" for more capacity, and more highway construction. A vicious spiral.