Florida 9B, linking 9A and U.S. 1, moving forward

[thelakelander]

Another expressway on the way for Jax.  This time it will only cost $82.4 million for 4.2 miles ($20 million/mile).

Florida 9B, linking 9A and U.S. 1, moving forward
The project is expected to take 900 days to complete.

Construction on the long planned Florida 9B highway in southern Jacksonville will begin in 2010 and should be open to the public sometime in 2012.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Transportation began advertising for contractors who would build the project. The advertisement on FDOT’s website said the project is not to exceed $82.4 million.

Florida 9B will be built from Florida 9A to U.S. 1 near Bayard.

The deadline for contractors to indicate an interest in the project is Oct. 20. FDOT expects to have a contractor in place by March, 2010 with work beginning on the roadway soon after.

The project is expected to take 900 days to complete, with both design work and the actual construction occurring during that time frame, said FDOT spokeswoman Gina Busscher.

Money for the project is coming from an earlier round of roadwork funded by the federal stimulus that came in under budget.

http://jacksonville.com/news/2009-10-05/story/florida_9b_linking_9a_and_us_1_moving_forward

[stjr]

They can find 82.4 million dollars for this, but none for mass transit or a street car system?  And, this is a road that parallels by only a little distance I-95 and US-1.  What a super waste of resources.  MJ should do a study on the property owners that will benefit from this.  Who gets credit for pushing this boondoggle down our throats?

Unfortunately, the unnecessary Outer Beltway will also get done soon.  Urban sprawl continues and we wonder why we can't improve our quality of life.  Where are all the anti-tax people to fight these projects that will just drive taxes higher when we are asked to subsidize the extra infrastructure for this sprawl?   

[reednavy]

And people wonder why we're called the Shoulder of Florida. We shoulder more than our fair share of stupid is what it is, and this is further proof.

God we need some new people running not only this city, but our FDOT region, FDOT itself, and the state. We need better and smarter leaders.

All these " Stop Tax Waste" people need to look at FDOT long and hard, they'd be stunned.

[stjr]

We need to start holding people accountable for these projects. MJ needs to start NAMING the politicians, movers and shakers, and decision makers responsible for these idiot projects.  Maybe a little "sunshine" would scare off these cockroaches and give us better use of our taxpayer dollars and smarter growth!  How about it, MJ?  Some investigative reporting.  Time to take it up a notch.

[stjr]

we could use your help, stjr!

We have a pretty clear idea of how the outerbeltway works, we just need the research time to prove the connections and ownership of the land.

I would really love to, Stephen, but a full time job prevents me.

How about a partnership with the T-U or Folio or, if you could put it in motion, using a hard-up ex-journalist from the newspaper business.  After a few hard hitting stories, you would probably exponentially increase your readership and maybe get enough new ad dollars to pay for more such stories.  I believe there are endless investigative stories in our area, just too few outlets to investigate them.  Another great opportunity for MJ to exploit and maybe the future model for journalism.  Go for it!

[stjr]

Stephen, a partnership with a print medium could be a win-win.  Unlike the T-U, I don't think Folio is a powerhouse on the web.  Maybe you could compliment each other somehow with dual ad placements and simultaneous stories.  I bet you have quite an overlap in demographics and appeal and could fuel each other's following quite a bit.

But don't forget to get those investigative stories out of the deal.  That is the engine that can drive everyone to new heights including our community.  A few more incensed citizens is what we need.  Stir them up!

[tufsu1]

Another expressway on the way for Jax.  This time it will only cost $82.4 million for 4.2 miles ($20 million/mile).

To be fair, bids will likely come in for less than $82 million....and the cost does include interchange ramps w/ 9A...at US 1, the road will just dead-end.

A future extension costing around $100 million will add interchange ramps at US 1 and extend it to I-95.

[tufsu1]

They can find 82.4 million dollars for this, but none for mass transit or a street car system?  And, this is a road that parallels by only a little distance I-95 and US-1. 

This was a top state priority project, funded with extra money from the Federal stimulus caused by road contracts coming in under price....but it had to be spent on roads (as per the legislation)

Note that the state intends to fund statewide transit as well...they've applied for grants for resumption of service on the FEC, SunRail, and HSR...total cost of those 3 projects is around $5 Billion

[thelakelander]

tufsu1, is the interchange with I-95 included in the future extension's $100 million price tag?

[tufsu1]

In theory yes....based on estimates from FDOT last year, the entire 9B project would cost around $200 million...the portion from 9A to just north of US 1 (not including interchange ramps) was estimated to be around $50 million.

But keep in mind that the $200 million cost does not include extending 9B south of I-95 (to Racetrack Rd)...so not all of the interchange ramps would be built.

[Jason]

^ It just keeps getting better.....  geeze!

Duval seemingly wants to cash in on the soon to be blossoming Nocatee and stretch more of the community across Duval borders.

[stjr]

This is government at its worst!  Spend the money because if we don't we can't redirect it and someone else might get it.  So we might as well waste the taxpayers money on our project rather than let it go for something really useful and needed.  That's also how the $ky-high-way got built.  This process has got to change.

[tufsu1]

As some of you know, I'm not a big SR 9B fan....but it is the #1 priority project for St. Johns County and has always been fairly high on the list for the Duval folks as well....the State would not have funded it if the locals didn't want it.

So if you have a problem with a road like this, you need to start with your respective County Commissioners!

[JeffreyS]

Good advice tu.

[JeffreyS]

I think he was remarking that people did not chime in.