Save the Riverside Trolley Push: Riverside Trolley/JTA meeting

[Ocklawaha]

No venom intended Joey, just a hard hell fire and brimstone correction aimed at the entire population of the city. Now we have Council members and Mayors, as well, who REALLY think we already have real "Trolleys." My contention is simply that we as blogger's can't afford to further confuse an already ignorant city.  The arguments are hot and heavy against rail of all types, and the highway lobby with some help from certain airline buddies are spreading their "gospel' of rail-butchery as fast as they can print up and get it out. 

One only has to ask oneself which is the LARGEST HIGHWAY builder, and HIGHWAY TRANSIT OPERATOR in North East Florida? Bingo! JTA is at the top of that pile, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to be an objective supporter of rail and other mass transit modes, when your already completely vested in funding every highway concept, think-tank, vehicle, or supplier. While mass transit buses - coaches and various types of rail - monorail mix very well under the same ownership and operation, the pavement end of that same highway transit operation is slanted to more lanes, less rail, and dedicated SPRAWL.

JTA has a few bright young employees who REALLY get it, Mr. Boyle comes to mind as one of the rising stars of the industry. Yet in just the last year of MJ and UJ, JTA has skidded from around the 60th largest bus fleet in America, well ahead of everyone else in Florida except Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, to number 95, behind Orlando, Tampa and damn near off the survey of America's top 100. The agency is an incompetent talent consuming beast that needs to be split. Our situation here is CRITICAL!

Sorry I tossed you on the alter to make a point, but I stand ready to help all of us "FIX" our transit mess in any way I can. You are a supporter and certainly one of the good guys in this battle which to me indicates your desire to lead and present a correct vision, I applaud you for that Joey.


OCKLAWAHA

[ricker]

AMEN to connecting ROOSEVELT SQ w/ The LANDING!
for all the reasons you guys mentioned. Yes.
but HOW How how do we sway the "deciderers"?

As a somewhat early rendition of the town-center idea, when the OLD Roosevelt Mall was converted to this configuration (which is a disgrace to its surroundings when one considers the Ortega Medical Arts buiding and Weise natural food shop BEHIND Publix and the BELK loading dock which visually severs the south end of shopping center i.e. Chamblin bookmine! C'mon we NEED the bookmine to ALWAYS thrive! that area has no public library within a bikeable distance and there are so many young families in that grid.)
I digress.. .

How do we mitigate the relative autonomy of the JTA?

[simms3]

Is JTA under the umbrella of our MPO?  Is there any formal relationship there?  If not, then I think there should be.  I know we have the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, but what are they?  Who IS our MPO?  What is the kind of organizational structure that exists in NE FL?

Atlanta's MPO is called the Atlanta Regional Council.  They have a great website and routinely seek input from residents and they basically live for GT students' and researchers' input (and Emory's).  MARTA is now under the overall ARC umbrella.  It was really a large move.  It has a seat at the table with the regional TPO (in charge of all of the other transit authorities), the counties, Atlanta, etc.  It's very complex, but I can see a much clearer chain of command and organization structure with the Atlanta metro than I can with Jax.  (This has been a process in the making for Atlanta metro because everyone in Atl squabbles and only recently have authorities and GDOT and city/county officials begun to work together).

Also, Atlanta developer John Dewberry (and former QB for Tech in late 80s) is the owner and manager of Roosevelt Mall.  I met him once when he was looking for a house in Ortega and his corporate HQ is 3 blocks from where I live.  I wished he would do something different with the Roosevelt Mall, still it is slightly better than Sleiman's God awful redo of the St. Johns theater site.

[Charles Hunter]

According to the North Florida TPO site ( http://www.northfloridatpo.com/ ) the JTA is a member agency of the TPO - with a seat on the Board, and two seats on the Technical Committee.  Otherwise, JTA ( http://jtafla.com/ ) is an independent agency.

[CS Foltz]

This is why we need something that has oversight on JTA and JEA and any other Agency! They are not too independent when it comes to their operating budget! I wish I could overrun project after project, get bonusus's to the upper management and generally waste here there and everywhere! City is no better when it comes to waste and the public really deserves better than what we get!

[tufsu1]

I'm not saying JTA is good CS....but their annual revenues and expenses have to match

[CS Foltz]

I'm not saying JTA is good CS....but their annual revenues and expenses have to match

Yes, I agree.....bound by law to do so right? I wonder what happened to that multi-million dollar unused account that JTA had stashed and then found................That was the last that I heard about it! Or was that JEA............I have problems keeping them straight.......one zips you and the other zaps you!

[ricker]

zig zags logic though, yes?

[ricker]

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having experienced both impromptu and scheduled meetings with many planners invloved with unrelated projects over time, I must relay that even CoJ planning department heads admit they wish the left hand occasionally met its right, or knew their mother. lol.

I have been told specifically by Tre Kilbourn, that "no one here-thinks regionally here".  We were speaking of our local elected individuals.  to think regionally in matters as important as signage development alone has a way of improving a grand space on BOTH sides of an arterial.  not to mention bringing the foot traffic!

The (new/restored?) Ortega (State Rd 211-not an arterial) community shuttle to Orange Park Kennel Club aka POKER room aka dog track facility on US17/Park ave at Wells rd south of i295.
This purposely avoids Roosevelt Square north of Chamblin Bookmine.

That area has no public library. 2 schools (Bayview elementary and Lake Shore Middle) but no close library.    We, here in Jacksonville cannot seem to maintain centers for learning and mental development for the youth, students of any age and poor alike.  Times are tough for most folks it seems.  Look at the story on the Murray Hill library.
Why not connect the two bookmines?

I am not associated with or employed by Ron Chamblin nor have I ever been.  He's a nice fella, we've met.
I have participated in roadside and sidewalk clean-ups and removal of several VW/mini size heaps of nuisance vegetation, vines and weeds dead and alive left to grow so long they turned into full fledged trees surrounding this man's Roosevelt/Lake Shore area gem.
Also on behalf of the many live aboards in the slew of marinas whose usual mode of transport along Lakeside-Lake Shore into Publix, is footing your way, or biking.  so the homeless trail of wandering vagrants and muggers - YES FOLKS THE SAME ONES IN 5pts!-  seriously _ the same bums! had too many places to hide/camp.

The Riverside Avondale Ortega Venetia route would be better for everyone, merchants and riders throughout this inner perimeter REGION EAST of CASSAT to the River. incuding the grid south of where SR21/Blanding takes off south from 17 after Plymouth St and FSCJ Kent.
This SPUI should have been built to its once proposed SPUR status which would have made it more like US17 through the MOSH/Crowne Plaza area of SanMarco/Riverplace stretch from the MainSt bridge.  Same road. different iteration entirely.
BUT, IF Roosevelt had been elevated when there was $ to do it, precious Avondale  would not have been "properly severed" as its own village. Don't get me wrong, as a native I'm glad we have it protected.

But I can also imagine San Juan, Blanding and Cassat as beautified thoroughfares not busted curb to curb.

MOVE THE DAMN Streetcar/ Shuttle for now - to 17 and another on Cassat south to Blanding south.  Connect the 2 lines along the 3.5 empty acres along Shirley Ave west of the huge StripMall JTA recently  purchased<??> .

This available tract could look quite similar to the skyway track out of Downtown to the Kings Ave garage passing over Morton's