Outer Beltway Update

[tufsu1]

Governor Crist was in Clay County today at a Chamber luncheon....he was to talk about transportation in Florida....the luncheon was followed by a press conference (likely just ended) out at Oakleaf where he was to provide an update on the status of the Outer Beltway

[Doctor_K]

Here's hoping the status is "indefinitely postponed"!

[subro]

Crap!!

Crist says work on Outer Beltway will be expedited
Posted: March 25, 2010 - 3:12pm


By Larry Hannan

Gov. Charlie Crist said today that work on the First Coast Outer Beltway will be expedited and the state will begin taking bids for the $1.8 billion project next month.

Crist said it was too early to say whether or not the toll road that will link Interstates 10 and 95 through Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties will be built soon.

The state hopes a private contractor will build the road and recoup its investment through tolls.
Crist made the announcement in Jacksonville; he also spoke in Clay County today.

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-03-25/story/crist-says-work-outer-beltway-will-be-expedited

[Jason]

&@%$*&%#@*&%@(*&#^*@&^*&%#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[kells904]

public unrest seems to be getting attention on Obamacare--minus the brick-hurling--can we do the same thing on this beltway?

[tufsu1]

public unrest seems to be getting attention on Obamacare--minus the brick-hurling--can we do the same thing on this beltway?

not when this is being sold as a job creator!

[kells904]

public unrest seems to be getting attention on Obamacare--minus the brick-hurling--can we do the same thing on this beltway?

not when this is being sold as a job creator!

....Eff.

[Joe]

The outer beltway - stupid as it is - doesn't bother me so much as long as a private company pays for it and charges tolls.

I think the most important battle would be to prevent Jax or FDOT from using public money to extend the beltway north from I-10 back around to I-95.

Looking for a silver lining to this dark cloud, hopefully the Outer Beltway will at least finally bring Sun Pass to Jax. As much as people flip out about tolls, they will probably be necessary for things like the Matthews Bridge (and eventually Hart Bridge) replacements, never mind the continuous widening of JTB.

[thelakelander]

Putting it out to bid doesn't bother me.  It will be interesting to see who, if any, responds and how much cash will they be willing to put up front.

[tufsu1]

there is a whole bunch of $ that would have to be spent up front...the shortlisted bidders will all have to develop preliminary design plans (usually 30%)...for a road of this magnitude, that could be in the $20 million range....plus there's all the investment grade toll studies that they'll do to make sure it works financially.

[kells904]

Putting it out to bid doesn't bother me.  It will be interesting to see who, if any, responds and how much cash will they be willing to put up front.

I wondered if these hypothetical private companies would dictate the feasability of the plan?  I mean, if you've got business people behind the decision to build the road, then they're using common sense to determine whether or not they're gonna recoup their money.  Maybe they'll come to the conclusion that we're OD'ing on pavement in these parts, and not be so quick to build it because it isn't such a good idea.

[urbanlibertarian]

I'd definitely trust their judgment over that of politicians and bureaucrats since their playing with their own or stockholders money.

[stjr]

I worried that ol' Charlie and the State will distort the economics of the bidding with well hidden taxpayer paid "incentives" and 'subsidies" starting with us paying for expanding roads and infrastructure to "interchange" with the Outer Beltway and spoon feed it "customers".  With Crist buying votes left and right (no pun intended   ), I am concerned about back door manipulations with taxpayer funds to insure we induce bidding on this project.

This is a blatant example of how and why our road network "sprawls".  Buying political votes with promises of flash-in-the-pan, non-sustainable jobs.  You would hink the current recession would have taught us you can't build a sustainable economy on "growth".

Could the voice of any citizen (or, even a "planner") at a public hearing be overheard above the Governor's and other politico's clamoring for this road?  I think not.  Again, this creates another opening for proponents of Amendment 4 because politically motivated land use changes will be next to come to support the new Outer Beltway.

[tufsu1]

Putting it out to bid doesn't bother me.  It will be interesting to see who, if any, responds and how much cash will they be willing to put up front.

I wondered if these hypothetical private companies would dictate the feasability of the plan?  I mean, if you've got business people behind the decision to build the road, then they're using common sense to determine whether or not they're gonna recoup their money.  Maybe they'll come to the conclusion that we're OD'ing on pavement in these parts, and not be so quick to build it because it isn't such a good idea.

exactly

[tufsu1]

Here's the latest

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-06-23/story/florida-looks-private-partner-build-first-coast-outer-beltway