Funny letter to the TU...
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1011633815_u44rY-M.jpg)
QuoteDear Call Box: Recently I was visiting a patient at Baptist Medical Center Downtown when I looked out the window and noticed an old, rusty, broken down drawbridge that is no longer in use. A large section of the bridge remains raised. It is such an eyesore. To me it represents poor city planning and poverty. If there is no historical value, why hasn't it been removed? - B.S., Orange Park
Dear B.S.: Guess you don't get to downtown Jacksonville very often or that you didn't have to cross railroad tracks to get to the hospital. That is the Florida East Coast Railway bridge that carries between 16 to 20 freight trains a day across the river. And yes, you could say it is somewhat historic. The first FEC bridge at that location opened Jan. 5, 1890, and was replaced by the present bridge in 1925, so it is the oldest bridge across the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville. It is operated 24 hours a day by three bridge tenders, each working 8-hour shifts. They keep it mostly in the open position to allow river traffic to pass beneath. The FEC budgets about $500,000 annually to maintain the bridge. CSX and Norfolk Southern are other railroads that use the bridge.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/402032/jessie-lynne-kerr/2010-10-21/florida-east-coast-bridge-isnt-abandoned
LOL. I will agree it's time for a new paint job. I recall a good bit of surface rust on the bridge last time I looked. Maybe FEC should stripe it with some neon lights to match the adjacent Acosta.
By the way, I have always chuckled that CSX HQ's looks upon, not CSX tracks, but FEC's. Wonder how many CSX visitors peer out CSX's windows and admiringly tell CSX workers what a nice view of CSX tracks they have only to find out otherwise by a sheepish CSX worker? :D
:) The bridge has served us well.. Frankly I agree it is in dire need of painting.. I can see how one,who rarely would visit might think its abandoned .
Good catch Lake with the article. Reinforces the magnitude of the upcoming city council and mayoral campaign elections when it comes to providing opportunities to see the trains crossing the bridge.
I'm talking about the HUGE missed opportunity that Baptist had when it came to saving and using what remained of the OFWB for patients, visitors and the residents of San Marco. The convalecent benefits that are now gone. The last city council and administration dropped the ball and ignored studies and reports that had said that it could have been saved and used.
The same scenario will be known in March and that is why the entire city should know the position of each candidate on the 680' Downtown Promised Public Pier that was Shipyards/Landmar.
More than you ever wanted to know about the bridge...
http://users.ipa.net/~ewall/fecbr.htm
Interestingly, the bridge was designed by Joseph Strauss, who was the chief engineer on a very famous bridge in San Francisco!
Pretty cool !!
Interesting read blfair! Long time between the 1880s and 1930s between when our bridge and the Golden Gate was built.
Hahaha funny and not surprising seeing this coming from an Orange Park resident :) I hate OP with a passion and I can't say I even sympathize with residents' traffic woes because I just don't sympathize with the residents there!
Orange Park is not the only area with traffic issues........try 95 north at rush hour or even 10 east same period of day......goes with saying..........stinks! JTA's proposal of more concrete or BRT will do nothing to cure that problem! The only options that makes sense is commuter rail or the like to relieve congestion! To me it is a no brain er! To further excrabate things, for what has been or is planned to be spent on highway upgrades, more than enough money to start a rail system of some sort! Pathetic viewpoint from JTA and their wanting to further their domain!
Quote from: simms3 on October 24, 2010, 01:29:09 PM
Interesting read blfair! Long time between the 1880s and 1930s between when our bridge and the Golden Gate was built.
Hahaha funny and not surprising seeing this coming from an Orange Park resident :) I hate OP with a passion and I can't say I even sympathize with residents' traffic woes because I just don't sympathize with the residents there!
Lol I hate Lawerenceville for the same reasons.
First of all 10E in the morning does back up (95N is not nearly as bad), BUT to put things in perspective when I have left Atlanta early in the morning going either 75N, 85N, or 75S (morning and afternoon for the latter) once you get to the perimeter (285) you will see 8 lanes of stop and go traffic for the better part of 10-15 miles (and that is in one direction), and you know they are all trying to get on 285 which is even worse. Traffic in Jax isn't that bad and I have seen the worst of it. DC is even worse than Atlanta because there are only 3-5 lanes there. And remember both of those cities have fairly extensive heavy rail systems by American standards and commuter bus systems like no other and a much more extensive bus system (400K-500K take MARTA a day and another 50K or so take express busses, maybe more, versus 9K-12K a day taking JTA transit).
Also I am a proponent of alternatives to roads, no doubt about it (I just got off MARTA for a grocery trip and for Taste of Atlanta and on my way back the trains were filled to the brim with Falcons fans returning from the game). However, a commuter rail system will do jack **** for taking a significant enough chunk of cars off the roads to be noticeable. Mass transit in America is really to serve the poor and the smart and to increase efficiency for large events. Most people even in New York area drive. Sure in European cities more people take mass transit than drive, but even they have congestion problems.
And Coolyfett: Lville - ewww LOL, same with Peachtree City (and they are threatening to leave ARC because they don't want to be taxed for transit...screw them LOL), and same with Alpharetta/Johns Creek/Norcross and same with Douglasville. Atlanta sprawls waayyyyy too much, makes Jax look like the Bronx sometimes.
Railroads do not typically paint their bridges.
Quote from: simms3 on October 24, 2010, 05:37:22 PM
First of all 10E in the morning does back up (95N is not nearly as bad), BUT to put things in perspective when I have left Atlanta early in the morning going either 75N, 85N, or 75S (morning and afternoon for the latter) once you get to the perimeter (285) you will see 8 lanes of stop and go traffic for the better part of 10-15 miles (and that is in one direction), and you know they are all trying to get on 285 which is even worse. Traffic in Jax isn't that bad and I have seen the worst of it. DC is even worse than Atlanta because there are only 3-5 lanes there. And remember both of those cities have fairly extensive heavy rail systems by American standards and commuter bus systems like no other and a much more extensive bus system (400K-500K take MARTA a day and another 50K or so take express busses, maybe more, versus 9K-12K a day taking JTA transit).
Also I am a proponent of alternatives to roads, no doubt about it (I just got off MARTA for a grocery trip and for Taste of Atlanta and on my way back the trains were filled to the brim with Falcons fans returning from the game). However, a commuter rail system will do jack **** for taking a significant enough chunk of cars off the roads to be noticeable. Mass transit in America is really to serve the poor and the smart and to increase efficiency for large events. Most people even in New York area drive. Sure in European cities more people take mass transit than drive, but even they have congestion problems.
And Coolyfett: Lville - ewww LOL, same with Peachtree City (and they are threatening to leave ARC because they don't want to be taxed for transit...screw them LOL), and same with Alpharetta/Johns Creek/Norcross and same with Douglasville. Atlanta sprawls waayyyyy too much, makes Jax look like the Bronx sometimes.
It doesn't make sense to compare a metro of 1.3 million with two +5 million in terms of traffic. Its like saying Pensacola's traffic isn't anything like Jacksonville's. However, rate us with our peers, like Memphis, Louisville, Birmingham, etc. and you'll see that things aren't peaches and cream. What we have are congestion spots along certain intersections and corridors. As we grow, they'll get worse and there's not anything we can do about that other than starting to invest in alternative modes of transit to give residents a choice in dependable mobility options.
Quote from: Lunican on October 24, 2010, 10:00:06 PM
Railroads do not typically paint their bridges.
Apparently not. This one has not been painted ,that I am aware of ,in my time .
I was thinking...the bridge is rusty & flaking, not sure if painting is the best idea. What is the process for fixing up steel? Do they sand blast it? I think neon lights would be cool, if they paint it, dont paint it Black, Brown or Grey!! Man those colors suck! Yellow? Purple? Teal? idk but with the right color it could become a landmark.
People in the burbs lol, rarely know anything about the core of their main city. But most suburban types rarely leave the area they live unless for work.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 24, 2010, 10:07:49 PM
Quote from: simms3 on October 24, 2010, 05:37:22 PM
First of all 10E in the morning does back up (95N is not nearly as bad), BUT to put things in perspective when I have left Atlanta early in the morning going either 75N, 85N, or 75S (morning and afternoon for the latter) once you get to the perimeter (285) you will see 8 lanes of stop and go traffic for the better part of 10-15 miles (and that is in one direction), and you know they are all trying to get on 285 which is even worse. Traffic in Jax isn't that bad and I have seen the worst of it. DC is even worse than Atlanta because there are only 3-5 lanes there. And remember both of those cities have fairly extensive heavy rail systems by American standards and commuter bus systems like no other and a much more extensive bus system (400K-500K take MARTA a day and another 50K or so take express busses, maybe more, versus 9K-12K a day taking JTA transit).
Also I am a proponent of alternatives to roads, no doubt about it (I just got off MARTA for a grocery trip and for Taste of Atlanta and on my way back the trains were filled to the brim with Falcons fans returning from the game). However, a commuter rail system will do jack **** for taking a significant enough chunk of cars off the roads to be noticeable. Mass transit in America is really to serve the poor and the smart and to increase efficiency for large events. Most people even in New York area drive. Sure in European cities more people take mass transit than drive, but even they have congestion problems.
And Coolyfett: Lville - ewww LOL, same with Peachtree City (and they are threatening to leave ARC because they don't want to be taxed for transit...screw them LOL), and same with Alpharetta/Johns Creek/Norcross and same with Douglasville. Atlanta sprawls waayyyyy too much, makes Jax look like the Bronx sometimes.
It doesn't make sense to compare a metro of 1.3 million with two +5 million in terms of traffic. Its like saying Pensacola's traffic isn't anything like Jacksonville's. However, rate us with our peers, like Memphis, Louisville, Birmingham, etc. and you'll see that things aren't peaches and cream. What we have are congestion spots along certain intersections and corridors. As we grow, they'll get worse and there's not anything we can do about that other than starting to invest in alternative modes of transit to give residents a choice in dependable mobility options.
It will get worse before any rail in Jax is created. This I Know
Yes, it gets worse every year. Our challenge will be not waiting for it to resemble an Orlando or Atlanta before making a serious investment in alternative forms of mobility.