JTA meetings on the future of the Skyway

[jcjohnpaint]

I won't be surprised if Ford uses the predicted survey results to save face and serve as a cover for JTA to say it will kill U2C by public demand, not because there hand was forced and it can no longer afford to pursue a wasteful, poorly conceived, pie-in-the-sky, unfeasible project that JTA should never have embarked upon.

I am guessing this is the plan.

[Nmhatt]

This article from JDR about the Phoenix district name-dropping the Skyway is interesting 

Those projects include a concept for a residential building and a parking structure, possibly connected by a skyway, to provide access for district residents and the community to the Emerald Trail, the 30-mile system of pedestrian and cycling paths in and around Downtown Jacksonville.

I'm assuming a hypothetical extension to the Phoenix district would have the line running down Main Street. As a Springfield resident, I would get a lot of use out of this. It would be a cool experience taking my kids to the library or any of the new riverfront parks via the Skyway.

Obviously, this was probably a throwaway line to tie into the current discussion around the skyway's future, but what would the rest of you think about an extension to "PHXJAX"? A few years ago they had public input about a  TOD centered around Phoenix. This could be a way to potentially add to that vision.

Even though I would personally benefit from having the Skyway run through Springfield, I think this should be a much lower priority of the potential extensions compared to Brooklyn or Bay Street toward the Stadium.

[thelakelander]

^Sounds like a walkway connecting two buildings over a street or rail line, not mass transit.

[Nmhatt]

^Sounds like a walkway connecting two buildings over a street or rail line, not mass transit.

Now I feel dumb haha. Let me dream, Ennis

[Jax_Developer]

Just a reminder that Jacksonville has no TOD's & we are unable to qualify any projects as TOD's per Federal Guidelines (other than the land immediately adjacent to our lovely Amtrak station on the Northside).

Any TOD legislation or discussion is purely clout.

[marcuscnelson]

^ TOD doesn't require federal action. There are specific federal financing programs which those guidelines are for, but the basic concept of "we have spent millions of taxpayer dollars building these transit systems, therefore we should make it legal and easy to develop denser housing and urban amenities around them" is generally a state and local affair. Florida has taken a number of steps to mandate looser zoning around transit stations over the last few years (even while also attacking said transit), and ironically local efforts like Rory Diamond's push to remove parking mandates within the beltway would also serve as similar support.

The city last revised its TOD laws about 4 years ago, introducing (in my opinion) a number of onerous rules that made actually building TOD much less likely, hence PHXJAX being one of the only developments to even bother utilizing that process. At the same time, JTA has spent millions of dollars on elaborate TOD studies that seem to do little to guide policymaking or development decisions.

A much more productive course of action would be TOD studies that simply recognize past and potential major investments in transit infrastructure and service, identify large underutilized parcels adjacent to that infrastructure, and clearly define the needed legal changes (via rezoning, land use, and permitting) to allow those parcels to be utilized in a way that justifies and supports that transit investment. At which point City Council should make those changes and let the market do its thing. You don't need big master plans or multiple rounds of charettes or applications. The private (and public) sector can decide what they want to build with the flexibility that should be allowed around this infrastructure that's been paid for and has capacity to spare.

[Jax_Developer]

The whole point in implementing TOD's is largely due to the public element. It's why there is a very large federal program setup around it that many other cities/developers can apply for.

Feel free to call whatever you want a TOD... it's a bastardized version of what an actual TOD is intended to do for both public & private use. At that point, arguably not a TOD.

[Skybox111]

Also did you see phxjax new renderings on daily record. there were some regular jta buses  with the autonomous vehicles with new auto buses so i guess their minds are made up going with shuttles.

[Jax_Developer]

Yup - easy in town to ride the wave. Ironically, we have large private holders in nodes that are mainly disconnected (Stadium, Gateway, Brooklyn, San Marco, Springfield) yet pretty much all of them have a feasible means of being connected with a functioning and slightly expanded Skyway system. The real shame here is that the business community should have come together years ago to stop the U2C - and the opportunity cost is exponential. The type of support shown for an Eastside Fund (that is already an extremely investor heavy area) or the Emerald Trail, should be shown in removing the U2C program.

Surrounding parcels would actually be worth more because renters & owners can actually rent/live in these spaces with 1 car per household or less. The U2C will never change that fact. To clarify Marcus, that's what I mean when I say what Jacksonville has implemented is not a TOD. It's really just a density bonus  & a code/parking reduction. It does nothing to address the purpose of a TOD.

The irony in all of this is that if we were to build to Jacksonville TOD standards (which is basically just RHD zoning) the throughput of the U2C would literally kill the retail it's intended to support. Back to my nodes... imagine the sheer number of vehicles needed to move meaningful numbers of people to all of these locations?

Again, back to what is a TOD? Phoenix is a little out there & really a questionable location for a project here to be considered apart of the "downtown" ecosystem. Maybe for folks on the Northbank, but harder to envision someone hopping in their U2C shuttle from Brooklyn, and taking it 4 miles to Phoenix, stops and all, with a thousand+ other shuttles operating at peak times.

But what if the business community (from Springfield down to Phoenix) actually came together to create a plan? What a concept I know... but this collective "lets just use the U2C" attitude is so disgusting at this point. Waymo or Robotaxi will be here in the next 12-24 months and its literally game over. Easily $100M+ literally evaporated (we love that $2000/psf training center & charging station that literally can't handle the throughput they are intending to cover - my god this program is ran by idiots).

[thelakelander]

^Years ago (around 2006-08) , we tried to make sure that the S-Line trail would not be built square center in the former rail ROW between LaVilla and Gateway Town Center. This would have preserved some ROW for future rail (e.g. like Detriot's Dequindre Cut or Charlotte's LRT through the South End).

It was, and still is, the most logical path for a LRT or streetcar line (I don't think extending the Skyway that far north makes sense), as it has limited at-grade street crossings, connects multiple destinations (e.g. JP Small Field/Emmett Reed Park/Myrtle Avenue, UF Health Jax, Springfield, Phoenix Arts District, Swisher, Brentwood and Gateway/Norwood) and links into the CSX line extending north near the airport, Imeson and into Nassau County (e.g. Wildlight, Yulee, Fernandina). Plus the ROW was already city owned. We got as far as getting JTA under previous leadership to include as the north corridor in a commuter rail feasibility study that never went anywhere.

Naturally, Jax did the opposite. So to do it now would require ripping out and rebuilding the entire S-Line trail.

[Nmhatt]

New JDR article for the second round of community input https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/apr/28/jta-schedules-second-round-of-public-meetings-on-skyway-future/

JTA will present the same alternatives during the May meetings as it did during the previous sessions, held in February through March. A JTA spokesperson said the options presented to the public in May will reflect cost ranges for the plans, with other considerations potentially added.

[Charles Hunter]

JTA is still considering that absurd bridge from the Shipyard to "The District"?
How can you take anything they propose if this is still in their plans?

[Nmhatt]

JTA is still considering that absurd bridge from the Shipyard to "The District"?
How can you take anything they propose if this is still in their plans?

It looks like all the images in that article are pretty old. I wouldn't consider those to be an indication of their current plans

[Charles Hunter]

You may be right, in one of the graphics for the new round of meetings, the Shipyard bridge connection is not shown. 




Link to the JTA page for the new meetings:https://jtafla.com/project-initiatives/u2c/u2c-phase-ii-skyway-rehabilitation-and-downtown-expansion-project-development-and-environment-study-public-meetings/

These pages do not provide any cost or time information for the five alternatives.

Meeting schedule:

Monday, May 11, 2026
11 AM–1 PM and 5–7 PM
FSCJ Advanced Technology Center
401 West State Street

Tuesday, May 12, 2026
11 AM–1 PM and 5–7 PM
Doubletree Jacksonville Riverfront
1201 Riverplace Boulevard

Wednesday, May 13, 2026
11 AM–1 PM and 5–7 PM
The Jessie (Jessie Ball duPont Center)
40 East Adams Street

Thursday, May 14, 2026
11 AM–1 PM and 5–7 PM
Ashley Square
650 North Newnan Street

[fsu813]

New JDR article for the second round of community input https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/apr/28/jta-schedules-second-round-of-public-meetings-on-skyway-future/

JTA will present the same alternatives during the May meetings as it did during the previous sessions, held in February through March. A JTA spokesperson said the options presented to the public in May will reflect cost ranges for the plans, with other considerations potentially added.

Asking the public to come out —again— about the same thing with little time between is a recipe for poor attendance.