Sunrail deal COULD make Jacksonville the star of the State.

[Ocklawaha]

My opinion this should be our action plan. I separated the S line from streetcar and future commuter rail.I will lobby all of my government representatives for it and try to preach it to my fellow Jaxsons.

1. Amtrak (become their biggest cheerleader)
    a. Upgrade Florida wide service especially Miami to Jax corridor. Jax as entry point to the state to take advantage of new HSR programs.
    b. Use as faux commuter service ST. Augustine, Avenues and Downtown.
    c. Amtrak dollars to fund upgrades needed for future commuter rail and current transit center.
2. Streetcar with portion of BJP funds (we already have the money so the ball is in our court)
    a. Connect Downtown and Core Neighborhoods.
    b. Spur infill development and revitalization.
    c. Long single track with passing sections.
    d. Work in conjunction with skyway and bus trolleys for more complete urban system.
3. S line and the Maxwell house extension explore JaxPort's interest in owning it and piggy back transit with it.
    a. Put Jaxports interests first.
    b. Provides a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
4. Continue the federal process to plan for commuter rail.
   

Did you say PORT? Check out the Seattle Transit Blog:

May 4, 2009 at 12:39 am
Ports Want Rail Stimulus Money
by Andrew Smith

Port of Seattle
The DJC is reporting that the Port of Tacoma and Port of Seattle are going after stimulus cash for rail projects along the I-5 corridor that should help ease freight congestion along the BNSF line. These would also ease congestion and increase on-time performance for Amtrak Cascades. The four projects they want money for are:

Building a third mainline and storage track bretween Kelso and Martin’s Bluff. There’s only $53 million of state money currently set aside for this project but it is estimated at more than five times that.
Completing the Point Defiance bypass, which would shave a lot of time off of Amtrak Cascades and have a big impact on its on-time performance.
Building the Vancouver bypass, which would let Cascades bypass the heavily congested rail yard in Vancouver.
Improving the Blakeslee Junction, which is where the BNSF line meets the Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad in Centralia. This has a bigger effect on freight and cars than on Amtrak, but congestion there is a problem for Amtrak as well.
These do seem like good projects for stimulus money if they can reduce congestion for both freight trains and Amtrak service.

OCKLAWAHA