North Jacksonville Transportation Study

[Metro Jacksonville]

North Jacksonville Transportation Study



The North Area Transportation Study highlights infrastructure improvements being considered by the City of Jacksonville to accommodate future growth north of the Trout and St. Johns Rivers.  Could bringing rail into the equation reduce the amount of road construction predicted by this plan?

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/1031

[Joe]

Interesting read. It was a bit confusing in the sense that they gave A-D and E-H recommendations, representing pre and post downturn economic projections respectively. I don't think they were extremely clear on which scenarios should and shouldn't happen.

I do like the fact that it addresses connectivity. Although this certainly continues the trend of Jacksonville pushing outward. By extending Yellow Bluff, Park, and this new Braddock Parkway, they are essentially creating a ring road from Blount Island all the way over the top of the Airport, and back down to US 1.

That's great in the sense that it provides an alternate route. However, unless the city starts land-banking (which they won't) all the remaining rural land around the new Braddock Parkway will be quickly gobbled up and probably converted to low density residential uses. This is terrible for two reasons:
1) it continues to spread Jacksonville out, which will eventually push the tax base outside of city limits, rather than using density to keep taxable development within Duval County,
2) It would kill the proposed "green belt" eventually connecting the Timucuan Preserve with the preservation land on the Westside and Clay County. The path of that Braddock Parkway runs right through some of the last rural land between Jax and Callahan.