QuoteMASS TRANSIT
Rail makes sense
I just read an article from Steve Congro in the opinion section of the paper.
He wrote about the proposed high-speed bus lanes and of an outer beltway system to contend with ever increasing traffic. I agree with his article about using rail lines instead of buses to move people around the city.
I have lived here for almost two years, and I sat back collecting my own thoughts about the city.
Jacksonville is overall a wonderful city, but still has its flaws like any other city. The transportation grid is becoming a disaster. So why not invest in rail system?
Extend the Skyway eastward but have it loop around the city with specific stops.
People who use this system can take a bus to that stop and then take the Skyway to get them closer to their final destination without having to keep transferring to different buses that seem to hardly run on time.
I would probably use it rather than drive in traffic everyday I go to work.
This would seem to cost cheaper than building high speed bus lanes and now a proposed outer beltway. Combine the cost of both and overall this rail system would seem like a feasible thing to do.
DON HORNER, Jacksonville
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101507/opl_207802592.shtml (http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101507/opl_207802592.shtml)
I don't think extending the skyway around town is viable, but working with local rail companies to potentially use our existing rails is.
(http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/OTrain6.JPG)
Finishing the Skyway to the Stadium district with a multi-modal "mother of all parking garages" located at or near Randolph and State Street/Arlington Expy. would make sense.
Further, so would a Riverside Avenue or Mary Street route to Riverside, and a route up and over I-95 and the FEC down to San Marco. As it is the parking garage at King Street is useless. It requires drivers on the Interstate to exit the road at Atlantic or around Prudential and back track to the garage after being almost in the central business district. Dumb. The driver to Skyway transfer should be seamless and happen at the outer edges of the core with easy on and easy off access. If I can't exit and park, without any more twists and turns, I might as well drive the extra mile or two and park downtown. The Skyway needs to provide a service, one that with proper stations, locations and transit bus/rail connections would bring the system to life.
It should be FREE.
A study should be made of traffic between FCCJ and Edward Waters as well.
In my never so humble opinion, it should have NEVER BEEN BUILT in the first place. But now that we have it, let's get over our fears of failure and complete it to an extent that it at least makes sense.
Ocklawaha
Extending it a couple of blocks to spots it should have went originally is one thing, but taking it anywhere outside of downtown is insane. (1)Its and elevated eyesore, (2) its expensive and (3) you could do light, commuter rail and other transit improvements for a fraction of the costs.
It cost $184 million to build for 2.5 miles or $73.6 million/mile. By comparison, we could have went with light rail in the 1980s for $15 million/mile and constructed a 12.3 mile long system for the same cost. For comparison's sake, its 11.61 miles (as the crow flies) from the Main Street Bridge to JIA's terminal.
SURE Lake, we agree completely on this issue. I just want the stupid thing to make some sort of logical sense. Otherwise, we're better off taking it down. Others should keep in mind extending the ends as true monorail would not be as expensive as the original "people mover AND monorail" segments were. Also, a great deal of money in traffic control, signals, repair, car supply etc. has already been invested and would not have to be duplicated.
Ocklawaha
Why not embrace Light Rail. But at the same time include the Elevated Train in the equation. It's already built. It would simply cost more money to remove it and put something else in. Why not extend it out to Riverside/Murray Hill by connecting it to the existing rail lines? The same situation for extending it out to Arlington and Regency. Build it down to grade and connect to existing rail lines. Do that and now you have light rail coming from two of the largest neighborhoods into the Core. It's a moot point that the City of Jacksonville has severely F&^%ed up the transportation issue in our city. But let's look at what we have in place already and look for ways to augment it in a positive way. The buses won't go away and neither will the "L". Instead of shouting at the moon let's put our energies into ways to make the two work together efficiently. New York City and D.C. are perfect examples. While these may be extreme cases given their population densities, the analogy fits. You've got a subway system that services the people and a bus system that offsets the subway, also to service the people. D.C. even has BRT to some of the outer lying places that people need to go. Like the Airports and some other destinations outside of the immediate metro system. How would something like this not apply to Jacksonville? We've got all 3 already. They just need to work together to service the public.
QuoteSURE Lake, we agree completely on this issue. I just want the stupid thing to make some sort of logical sense. Otherwise, we're better off taking it down. Others should keep in mind extending the ends as true monorail would not be as expensive as the original "people mover AND monorail" segments were. Also, a great deal of money in traffic control, signals, repair, car supply etc. has already been invested and would not have to be duplicated.
Not to mention that we actually paid for two systems since it was first constructed as a people mover. There's also not another river to cross and it was over engineered. You can get away with using a lot less concrete then what the original line uses.
Clarian Peoplemover - Indianaplis
(http://visualmedia.iusm.iu.edu/visuals/monorail-400.jpg)
This 1.5 elevated line was recently built for $42 million or $28 million/mile. For those who have forgotten, JTA's BRT plan is currently hovering around $26 million/mile.