State Rd 9B

[CS Foltz]

9B Connector is just a pipeline for developer expansion...........if you build it they will come right? Now if the deveopers want to foot the bill to put it into place that is something else, but that won't happen! I mean why should they spend their money when they can get FDOT to use our tax dollars to do it for them? Removal of "Concurrency" was a bad move for the public but a good move for developers! Thanks Daniel Davis.........I will not forget!

[tufsu1]

Concurrency has not been removed, especially not in St. Johns County!

The only thing that has happened is that the state concurrency mandate in "dense urban land areas" has been lifted....but local governments would still need to change their comp. plans to take out concurrency provisions....and by 2012, they must replace it with a fundable mobility plan.

[Charles Hunter]

note that all of Duval County is a "dense urban land area" - even Maxville, Baldwin, and Eastport.

[reednavy]

Where the hell is Eastport?

Unless you're referring to Mayport area.

[thelakelander]

Eastport is the area where the paper mill on Heckscher is located.

[Ocklawaha]

Eastport is the area where the paper mill on Heckscher is located.

Funny, I always thought of it as suburban New Berlin, or Oceanway...

OCKLAWAHA

[AntigoneStarr]

This 9B thing... all I'm seeing as a result from this is more Wal*Mart and bad strip malls. -.- and Jacksonville becoming even more spread out and disconnected than ever. Seriously. Half the people that live in this town refuse to leave their end and this doesn't seem like it would help with that at all.

...we need someone to come in with an awesome new monorail system to expand upon the tiny one we already have.

[British Shoe Company]

9B will bring developers, they developer land, and is that bad?
Do you wants woods, and snakes,  or developed land?
St. Johns County Commissioners are looking out for the our best interst!
It will save people time, and gas!
It will provide places to get food, and gas !
We need JOBS, and 9B will provide JOBS for construction, and the results of the construction will lead to more JOBS!
If you want to be anti development, move to MONTANA!

[AntigoneStarr]

I have a preference for building up, not out. And we don't need exactly need more from the corporate giants coming in town...

[thelakelander]

9B will bring developers, they developer land, and is that bad?

If its low density sprawl that will cost the taxpayers more money than it generates, then yes it is a bad thing.

Do you wants woods, and snakes,  or developed land?

We should want both.  We need to preserve our natural areas, as well as focus on bringing sustainable development to our community.  Having a sustainable mix of both will enhance our standard of living and the region's quality of life.

St. Johns County Commissioners are looking out for the our best interst!

Most of 9B is in Duval County.  It should not be in Duval County's best interest to further the sprawl development of St. Johns County at the expensive of Duval's residents and their standard of living.

It will save people time, and gas!
It will provide places to get food, and gas !
We need JOBS, and 9B will provide JOBS for construction, and the results of the construction will lead to more JOBS!

It won't reduce vehicle miles traveled.  However, it may expand them.  Unless new sprawl comes with higher density and a good mix of uses, those new trips generated by 9B will clog other roads in the region to get to places like the grocery store, library, schools, parks and jobs.

If you want to be anti development, move to MONTANA!

The other side of this is, if you want irresponsible sprawl, move to Osceola County or suburban Atlanta.  Locally, we should strive for good quality development. 

[British Shoe Company]

Your point is correct.  Their should be responsible growth.   

[Ocklawaha]

I have a preference for building up, not out. And we don't need exactly need more from the corporate giants coming in town...

That's exactly what we need Antigone, add 3 or 4 fortune 500 companies to the City Center, the urban core, and this city would grow UP! Not to mention that type of business "corporate giants" also tend to do some pretty sweet things in their home towns.

This 9B thing... all I'm seeing as a result from this is more Wal*Mart and bad strip malls. -.- and Jacksonville becoming even more spread out and disconnected than ever. Seriously. Half the people that live in this town refuse to leave their end and this doesn't seem like it would help with that at all.

...we need someone to come in with an awesome new monorail system to expand upon the tiny one we already have.

Monorail is NOT THE ANSWER to anything but the city core. Most folks don't know but monorails are as old as the traditional railroads. If they really had some advantage, instead of the golden spike they would have laid the golden beam, that day in Utah, in 1869.

9B will bring developers, they developer land, and is that bad?
Do you wants woods, and snakes,  or developed land?
St. Johns County Commissioners are looking out for the our best interst!
It will save people time, and gas!
It will provide places to get food, and gas !
We need JOBS, and 9B will provide JOBS for construction, and the results of the construction will lead to more JOBS!
If you want to be anti development, move to MONTANA!

I'm your huckleberry on this one too...  be a daisy if I do!
Developers are not bad, but the past methods have to be changed, we must go up and not out. There are many reasons for this but being able to walk to the corner bakery, market, store, office, bus or streetcar/metro stop is one of the largest reasons. We have to wonder what will happen when the oil gets shut off. Lastly, did you know if you add up the surface feet of pavement in the USA, we could now completely cover the Northeastern most 8 states! I don't want that in Florida.

Woods and snakes? Are you really from the UK? All of us would prefer the woods and some of us (myself included) would prefer the snakes, (they eat rats and mice). I have a resident snake in my backyard bushes, named for one of Jacksonville's infamous leaders: "Jake the Snake". Hope it's okay with my good ol boy friend, because "shhh, the snake is B L A C K !" Millions each year rush off to visit our national and state parks, we are blessed as this same flora and fauna is right in our back yards.... Unless we pave it.

Save time? Not really, highways don't move people at all... they move vehicles. The only benefit to 9-B/I-795, is it will remove port traffic from I-95, as well as create a flow of traffic from Northeast St. Johns County toward Town Center.

Providing places for food and gas? Hell's bells the NFL announcer's in the Super Bowl already told the world that we have more Waffle House restaurants then any other city on earth. Great PR!

Construction will provide jobs, no question. Today we can drive a car from St. Augustine to Jacksonville. When the construction of 9-B is complete, we can drive a car from St. Augustine to Jacksonville! Spending those same dollars on rail infrastructure could do far more then 9-B will ever do. Rail would give us choices in our commute and get the 18 wheelers off the expressway.

Already been to Montana!


OCKLAWAHA

[British Shoe Company]

First, has anybody priced rail infrastructure costs?  Secondly, it makes road building seem very cheap compared to rail infrastructure upkeep costs !

[tufsu1]

why...because nobody thinks about road upkeep....fact is operations and maintenance on roads average something like 7% of original construction cost per year....so every 13-14 years you're paying for the road all over again.

[British Shoe Company]

 fufsu, will you do the math, and see if I am correct.  I believe roads will be a better value.