Metro Jacksonville

Now that the Big I is completed, the biggest traffic problem in town is the I95/Butler interchange (ok, maybe its 295/Blanding). Even though I95 north of Butler has been expanded to better handle the backed-up traffic there, its an incredible mess. I've looked at the JTA website and it looks like its still under design with no funding available for right-of-way or construction! By the looks of the website, an alternate hasn't even been selected yet (but maybe soon). Does anybody know what the holdup is? Why have other projects like 9B, the I95/9A flyover, the Overland Bridge project, etc. managed to get their funding and are under construction or moving ahead, when this incredible cluster**** still waits in limbo???

The project is a major priority of the North Florida TPO....but it will take some time to collect over $100 million....plus, as you noted, the recent improvements buy some time.

btw....the Overland Bridge project is considered maintenance...so it is funded from a different pot than capacioty projects.

Imagine a scenario where the overland bridge replacement coincides with a JTB/I95 rebuild...  MADNESS!!!  They'll likely finish one before starting the other.

Speed up the 6 lane widening on Philips, and open Commuter Rail AND BRT park and rides from AVENUES, SUNBEAM, BAY MEADOWS, into SAN MARCO and DOWNTOWN. While it won't fix the several year headache of I-95 rebuilding, it would give people a choice.

They still desperately need to get bicycle-pedestrian lanes along JTB between Southpointe and the FEC RY tracks west of Philips. We should all push for this as a minimum, take it on to Town Center and a north-south bikeway along the Julington-Pottsburg Creek alignments, as a coups d'état.

OCKLAWAHA

JTB at Gate Pkwy is a nightmare also, as is getting over to the I-95 North exit from JTB....There is too much traffic and lights for a merge on/off lane. Who is planning this stuff????!!!!

Quote from: Jason on January 03, 2011, 10:11:54 AM
Imagine a scenario where the overland bridge replacement coincides with a JTB/I95 rebuild...  MADNESS!!!  They'll likely finish one before starting the other.

Actually the next segment for rebuild is south of the Overland to I-295 after 2014-5. That is one of the reasons JTA is looking at the I-95/JTB situation now to line up the funds so that it can be built as part of that redux.

So while it would be madness in that area when that happens, it actually will save JTA a lot of money by having it done essentially at the same time.

Pretty, no.  Essential, yes.

So you're saying that I95 will be resurfaced between the overland bridge down to I295?  Will they be adding lanes?

^No.

Quote from: spuwho on January 03, 2011, 08:30:45 PM

Quote from: Jason on January 03, 2011, 10:11:54 AM
Imagine a scenario where the overland bridge replacement coincides with a JTB/I95 rebuild...  MADNESS!!!  They'll likely finish one before starting the other.

Actually the next segment for rebuild is south of the Overland to I-295 after 2014-5. That is one of the reasons JTA is looking at the I-95/JTB situation now to line up the funds so that it can be built as part of that redux.

So while it would be madness in that area when that happens, it actually will save JTA a lot of money by having it done essentially at the same time.

Pretty, no.  Essential, yes.

If you look at the plans, the I-95/JTB interchange shouldn't affect I-95 traffic too much, although delays on JTB will surely back up on I-95 southbound, but the new exit lanes will help that situation a lot. The I-95 repaving looks like its split into two or maybe more separate projects, probably so they all don't need to be funded all at once, but if those projects get serialized, we may be looking at years of construction. I'd prefer that they do them all in parallel along with the Overland bridge project and the JTB interchange and get them all over with.

And I agree that a BRT or Commuter Rail option would help a lot. But what are the chances that's going to be implemented in the next decade???

Quote from: middleman on January 04, 2011, 09:14:12 PM
And I agree that a BRT or Commuter Rail option would help a lot. But what are the chances that's going to be implemented in the next decade???

To borrow a line from a very Pretty Woman, "BIG, HUGE!"  Just yesterday a vote went sailing through a committee at City Hall without ANY opposed, that sets up funding for many such projects in our future. Check out the 2030 mobility plan story, and the formula for new development. It will:

Encourage Infill
Fund Mass Transit
Fund Other Infrastructure
Level the playing field in assessing fees on developments
Reward development closer to the Urban Core

We are on the cusp of a new era in Jacksonville, it's written in the stars!

The second in a series of eclipses that began with the lunar eclipse at the Winter Solstice occurred this morning at around 4 am Eastern time.   This eclipse, a solar eclipse at the New Moon in Capricorn on January 4th, features a lineup of four planets in Capricorn including not only the Sun and Moon, but also Pluto and Mars.

Because the New Moon is the beginning of the lunar cycle, and because this New Moon contains the North Node which represents our future direction and Pluto creates endings that assist us in transformation, there is a sense here of propulsion into a new framework (Capricorn) that will help to support our lives and provide us with a stronger foundation than we have had before.




OCKLAWAHA  ;D

middleman, I travel this interchange as our business is on Salisbury, and with the new construction traffic is a joke, no big deal. I-295 to US17 is more of a daily issue than JTB/Butler.

I see the interchange at 5pm from southbound I-95. Cars are typically backed up in the new exit lanes all the way to Bowden causing slow-downs on I-95 all the way to Emerson and beyond. Cars trying to go eastbound on Butler sometimes have to wait 15 minutes or more to get through those lights. No big deal??? Seriously?

Quote from: middleman on January 06, 2011, 08:59:36 AM
I see the interchange at 5pm from southbound I-95. Cars are typically backed up in the new exit lanes all the way to Bowden

which is precisely why the extra lane was built connecting the two interchanges....the backups now have a much smaller effect on I-95 through traffic than they used to

Maybe its just me, but I would think that an elevated flyover would have made more sense? A light to control traffic onto JTB just slows things down to where there is a backup onto 95 South bound! This is efficient.......cheaper maybe but efficient..........not really sure about that!

and that is the long-term plan...but it requires something like $100 million....this project was done for about $15 million.

I've driven through the I-10/95 interchange every which way possible now. I am often amazed at how badly planned it is. It's very confusing all over the place. Tourists must be scared witless. The signage is awful and seems more like a cruel joke. I'm particularly mystified at the Stockton 'ramp' onto the freeway where you have to swerve into a fast moving lane of traffic and then merge off, all within 50 feet, to take the Fuller Warren Bridge. Lastly, it's just incredibly utilitarian. There is little beauty to the design. Speaking of, when will it be landscaped? I thought that was part of the plan. Right now it looks like it could be in Macon, GA. And I don't mean that as a compliment.

Quote from: tufsu1 on January 06, 2011, 11:23:53 AM

Quote from: middleman on January 06, 2011, 08:59:36 AM
I see the interchange at 5pm from southbound I-95. Cars are typically backed up in the new exit lanes all the way to Bowden

which is precisely why the extra lane was built connecting the two interchanges....the backups now have a much smaller effect on I-95 through traffic than they used to

Oh, I agree completely, the new lanes improves the I-95 situation a lot, and the double lane exit onto Butler moves the Butler eastbound traffic much faster through the interchange. It helped the mess... but its still a mess, just a smaller one.

My original question was why wasn't a limited-access interchange built here years ago? For instance, the new interchange at 9A and Butler was completed last year, yet we aren't out of the design stage for the I95/butler interchange. Why? Not sure of the traffic counts, but I would wager I-95/Butler has significantly more traffic exchange than 9A. Maybe 2X? Don't ya think the I-95 interchange should have gotten a higher priority?  I'm just trying to understand why the I95/Butler interchange hasn't been dealt with, when it clearly should be a top priority.

Quote from: ubben on January 06, 2011, 05:04:43 PM
I've driven through the I-10/95 interchange every which way possible now. I am often amazed at how badly planned it is. It's very confusing all over the place. Tourists must be scared witless. The signage is awful and seems more like a cruel joke. I'm particularly mystified at the Stockton 'ramp' onto the freeway where you have to swerve into a fast moving lane of traffic and then merge off, all within 50 feet, to take the Fuller Warren Bridge. Lastly, it's just incredibly utilitarian. There is little beauty to the design. Speaking of, when will it be landscaped? I thought that was part of the plan. Right now it looks like it could be in Macon, GA. And I don't mean that as a compliment.

Is there a particular sign that you find confusing?

I haven't tried the Stockton exit yet, but I believe other folks have complained that they need to move to the left fork of I-10 in order to get to I-95 south. I believe if you stay to the right after getting on at Stockton, you can get to I-95 as well without crossing traffic lanes. That clearly needs to be signed properly.

I heard earlier this week that the bid to landscape the interchange will be let later this month, with the actual work done over the summer.

well that Macon, GA interchange for I-75/I-475 is a thing of beauty   ;)

all kidding aside, I can think of many largte interchanges in urban areas that are far worse....my favorite one to hate these days is wher I-75 and I-85 split off north of downtown Atlanta....intuitively I-75 should split to the left hen going north, but no...it goes from the right...it is so bad, they had to paint interstate symbols on each travel lane 1/2 mile beforte the split.

Quote from: ubben on January 06, 2011, 05:04:43 PM
I'm particularly mystified at the Stockton 'ramp' onto the freeway where you have to swerve into a fast moving lane of traffic and then merge off, all within 50 feet, to take the Fuller Warren Bridge.

I tried the Stockton exit this morning, and you're absolutely right, that's an obvious design flaw. The Stockton merge lane is way too short, you have to bully your way into the traffic, only to exit 50 feet later. Obviously, the merge lane should have been continued through that extra 50 feet to the next ramp.

Well at least Macon has figured out how to "FIX" their freeway problem... SUPER SIZE IT.

Sure am glad they didn't use that four letter R--- word, God know's how much infrastructure they would have to build new from the ground up...

Like a "Macon Terminal Station."


I'm sure we'll all save big bucks on that FREEway.


OCKLAWAHA

QuoteCars trying to go eastbound on Butler sometimes have to wait 15 minutes or more to get through those lights. No big deal??? Seriously?

15 minutes is a big deal to you? You obviously have never been in Orlando, Miami, Atlanta or DC traffic. We don't have traffic in Jax, people in other municipalities would kill for 15 more minutes. Most often its not 15 minutes. Since the new construction, rarely do you see backups past AC Skinner on Belfort, headed north.

We could fix it with a 100 million flyover, but we just did that at 9A/295 and the whole 9A/JTB interchange and we still have the 9B/95 interchange to build. We are not lacking for projects, not to mention we still have yet to see much in the way of the 95/San Diego Road changes.