$147 million secured for Emerald Trail

[thelakelander]

Its about time we bring home some real bacon from DC for a project that the majority of the residents in town actually want. While everyone involved should share in the credit, knowing the backstory here, the Mayor's Office should be recognized with doing the heavy lifting. Congrats! Keep up the good work. With focus and inclusive strategic thinking and implementation, we have the resources to make great positive change very quickly.

[jaxlongtimer]

Mark Woods does a nice job recapping the history of the Emerald Trail from that ever present genius from the early 1900's, Henry Klutho, to today.  Hats off to the National Park Service, who hasn't received enough credit for funding the ground floor of this project before most anyone else around here.

Woods: $147 million federal grant a game-changer for Groundwork Jacksonville, Emerald Trail

I remember going to a community meeting about a decade ago, shortly after Groundwork Jacksonville launched in 2014.

I was vaguely aware of how the National Park Service was a partner with Groundwork USA and about 20 local programs around the country. When Jacksonville was selected as a Groundwork site, the ambitious goal was a new Emerald Necklace — a 21st-century version of the urban greenways and waterways that architect Henry Klutho envisioned after the Great Fire of 1901.

I liked the idea. But, to be honest, I didn't like the odds of it actually happening.

The park service had pledged to chip in $80,000 for the start-up phase of Groundwork Jacksonville, and the city had committed $50,000 a year for three years....

....For as long as I can remember, we've been talking about reviving the Emerald Necklace. There are stories in the Times-Union archives from the 1990s about it. Ron Littlepage wrote columns about it long before I ever did. These seeds didn't grow overnight.

When Alvin Brown was mayor, the ball started rolling with the launch of Groundwork Jacksonville. And when Lenny Curry was mayor, the ball kept rolling with support for the Emerald Trail, including the master plan and gas tax, approved by City Council.....

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/mark-woods/2024/03/19/147-million-federal-grant-for-jacksonvilles-emerald-trail/73010977007/

[thelakelander]

Images: Emerald Trail federal grant press conference



Sights and scenes from a recent press conference celebrating the largest one-time federal grant that Jacksonville has ever received. Recently awarded $147 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the funds will be utilized to advance the construction of the full 30-mile Emerald Trail system.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/images-emerald-trail-federal-grant-press-conference/

[marcuscnelson]

Elections appear to have consequences: the federal grant awarded to Jacksonville to build out the Emerald Trail may be endangered by a new bill being discussed in Congress.

https://t4america.org/2025/04/29/reconnecting-communities-projects-are-under-threat-here-is-whats-at-stake-and-where/

The House proposal would largely repeal the funds from the federal program which awarded Jacksonville the grant, blowing a hole in the city's ability to complete the Emerald Trail.

[jaxlongtimer]

If the City Council and Mayor had the fortitude, they should subtract $147 million from JTA's U2C funding and reallocate it to the Emerald Trail.  Poetic justice and maybe kill the U2C at the same time.

[thelakelander]

If we lose it, we know where we can recover it....killing the rest of the U2C bonfire.

[marcuscnelson]

Local officials are now "very concerned," according to JTA CEO Nat Ford.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/may/02/jta-ceo-nat-ford-officials-very-concerned-about-federal-grant-for-emerald-trail/

[fsu813]

$147 mill grant is now rescinded. Damn.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/07/07/trump-signed-budget-cuts-147-million-for-emerald-trail-in-jacksonville/84499658007/

[jaxlongtimer]

$147 mill grant is now rescinded. Damn.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/07/07/trump-signed-budget-cuts-147-million-for-emerald-trail-in-jacksonville/84499658007/

Trump Administration priorities:
Rid the country of every last immigrant (unless they are whites from South Africa)
Throwing money at the Fox-bred, incompetent Secretary of Defense
Giving more tax breaks to the rich
Catering to Trump's ego and take revenge on any one or any organization/company that crosses him
Finding ways to enrich Trump
Quashing dissent
Cozying up to dictators and autocrats

Some things the Trump Administration could care less about:
Funding and supporting quality education
Science and scientific research
Climate change
Helping the downtrodden or victims of disasters
Equality for all
Ethical and/or moral behavior
Bipartisanship for the good of the country
Quality healthcare for all
Environment
Supporting our allies who support us
Respecting the justice system
Free press
Treating veterans with respect

Bean and Rutherford just seem to have no ability to independently think.  Totally in the Trump cult.  Brag about doing things for Jax.  What have they done since Trump came back to office vs. what they have lost for us by supporting Trump and his cuts, etc.?

[Charles Hunter]

Time to start taking a good look at the massive U2C pot.

[jax_hwy_engineer]

Time to start taking a good look at the massive U2C pot.

Exactly. The city should be majorly reprioritizing things based on this... It's our city to maintain and beautify, if the fed won't help we gotta do it ourselves rather than spending huge amounts of cash on hopeless AV projects...

[vicupstate]

$147 mill grant is now rescinded. Damn.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/07/07/trump-signed-budget-cuts-147-million-for-emerald-trail-in-jacksonville/84499658007/

That the Feds would spend that amount of money in ONE city for this purpose was very surprising to say the least. I've never heard of any city getting that kind of money for trails.

[Ken_FSU]

An absolute gut-punch to Jax, and a total sell-out by our State Representatives who backed this project. 

Question:

Beyond speculation, do we know for certain why the federal grant had not yet been fully secured? As in, was this inevitable given the project's timelines, or was the loss of the grant due to a failure by JTA to move quickly from a clerical perspective on securing the funds. If it's the former, this is still terrible. If this is the latter, Nat Ford needs to be fired. This was the largest grant in city history, and if the loss was preventable, heads need to roll.

For those still defending the orange goblin, this is what you get. A $150 million grant designed to right the wrongs of the 1950s and 60s highway construction that bulldozed and/or isolated minority neighborhoods by reconnecting them with vital city services, schools, hospitals, and job centers. Pulled away from Jacksonville as part of the Transportation Secretary's vow to "review grant projects and renegotiate or cancel any incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion; climate change activities, or environmental justice."

Fantastic.

Time to start taking a good look at the massive U2C pot.

Part of me agrees. A larger part of me thinks the massive U2C pot needs to be shifted toward true transit, with the Emerald Trail being completed via the general fund, or by pursuing other grants. This thing had a LOT of political support on both sides of the table. Hoping we may be able to claw back some of the loss in the form of other federal grants framed around less controversial goals, such as "wealthy people getting wealthier."

[thelakelander]

^
My take is that you could see this coming a mile a way when it came out that we had still not executed a contract, for whatever reason.  Elections have consequences. That's a time proven fact, that's much bigger than Jax. Especially, in the political climate we're living in today. Time to accept our blame locally and deal with our reality. Moving forward, based on my transportation planning background, here are some things that can be looked at:

(1) Do more with less. Yes, look into the word people generally hate. Value engineering to get a good product done quicker, while also stretching the funds in hand further than initially anticipated. Just spit balling here but if you originally wanted 14-feet wide paths, maybe you go down to 12' or 10' in some stretches? Perhaps, its right sizing some corridors to have protected cycle tracks adjacent to existing sidewalks, instead of moving curb & gutter, utilities, etc. to force in a side path in constrained areas? Maybe its an asphalt trail in some areas instead of concrete? Maybe you go with more native and low maintenance landscaping instead of other options? That's generally what I mean by value engineering to stretch funds further.

(2) Look to coordinate some planned future alignments with other planned capital improvement road projects. This gives the ability to comingle existing infrastructure funding pots. An example would be SR 526/Robinson Street in Downtown Orlando and Thornton Park. That street is a 4-lane undivided like what Hendricks used to be in San Marco. FDOT was going to resurface it. The City of Orlando, the Downtown CRA and residents had other dreams. Through a mix of funding, added to the resurfacing budget, its now being transformed into a complete street with two travel lanes for automobiles, freeing up space for a protected cycle track and shared use path (i.e. trail).

That news article was pretty weak, but these are two realistic options to consider, given the unreliable path of getting grants (still pursue grants as well though...so not an either or situation!).

[fieldafm]

Time to start taking a good look at the massive U2C pot.

JTA already bonded out their LOGT capacity a year ago to pay for the clown cars.