Exploring Downtown's Cathedral District
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Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-dec-exploring-downtowns-cathedral-district
Just like the rest of downtown, this neighborhood would stand to benefit greatly if roadways were converted to two-way. Traffic is relatively light to begin with. There are so many beautiful structures in that area, its too bad the roads are designed so you tear ass through it.
Nice tour. Some great parking options in the area.
Quote from: Jax Friend on December 22, 2015, 07:32:55 AM
Just like the rest of downtown, this neighborhood would stand to benefit greatly if roadways were converted to two-way. Traffic is relatively light to begin with. There are so many beautiful structures in that area, its too bad the roads are designed so you tear ass through it.
The Hart Bridge Ramps don't help this at all. I'd love to see the entire Hard Bridge Expressway demolished and dramatically reconfigured (so it drops over near Gator Bowl Blvd and the Sports Complex), but as an interim step get rid of the ramps to Monroe and Duval Streets. If that was done, then it would be a great opportunity to convert some of the east-west streets back to two way. Adams and Forsyth are much more commercial in nature and while I'd love to see these streets back to two way, they do carry much more traffic than East Monroe and East Duval, especially without the Hart Bridge ramps.
I remember doing a walking tour of this part of Downtown with my old man back in the day. Especially back then, it didn't feel like Downtown Jacksonville, there's just so much still standing besides just giant office buildings. It was a big part of the master plan for downtown back then (which was subsequently mostly ignored). As I recall the big challenges here are the roads (too many arterials for a walkable area), the zoning (residential and storefront uses have largely been turned into offices, because apparently there aren't enough offices downtown), and the parking lots. The churches are really stunning, but due to their nature as regional congregations, they have a tendency to buy property to flatten into lots that are used only twice a week.
But there are a lot of infill opportunities. If the Brooklyn energy start moving up to Lavilla I wouldn't be surprised to see movement in the Cathedral District in the next few years. Especially if the city takes the initiative to encourage it again.
^^Exactly +1000! The ramps and elevated roadway literally cuts through and creates physical barriers between sections of downtown (Cathedral District, Sports Complex, North Bank) and destroys a large portion of Hogan's Creek. I have never understood the logic in such an expensive elevated roadway when it appears the ramps could be limited to the east end of Bay Street by the Stadium and be just as affective. I get it, in the 60's and 70's it was an industrial area and they were trying to get people in and out of downtown as quickly as possible no matter what the cost, but it has about the worst possible configuration possible in terms of eliminating great potential real estate along the creek and river.
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/3914233437_wCqnmRF-L.jpg)
The elevated expressway was built for an environment long gone by. As shown above, there was no Gator Bowl Boulevard. Bay Street ended at Florida Avenue (now A. Philip Randolph) and everything south of Forsyth Street and everything between Adams and the riverfront was industrial. Thus, the elevated ramps were initially built to not sever the large industrial tracks of land and companies operating and needing access beneath it. After crossing Hogans Creek, the ramps were then needed to go over the old railyard bordering the Cathedral District.
The most negative impact on the Cathedral District here was the retrofit of residential Monroe and Duval Streets to work as one-way arterials. Now that time has passed and the entire environment in this section of downtown has changed, this entire roadway should be reevaluated when it comes time to replace it.
^My bad, I knew it was industrial back then, just not that industrial. Makes sense, the companies didn't want their infrastructure impacted. But yeah, looking at what's there now, it doesn't make much sense. On the long list of things to do to fix Jacksonville. If the city actually had money to spend on these things there would be a plethora of jobs created and sustained with all the work that needs to be done. Here's to hoping they get the whole pension thing figured out . . . if that is truly what is holding the city back so much.
I believe the ramps are FDOT, so the pension and other local funding mechanisms most likely won't apply here. At some point, FDOT will have to spend some cash retrofitting them (ex. I-95 Overland Bridge project). When that time comes, some coordination with FDOT could lead to their removal on FDOT's dime.
I don't know how much life they've got left, but these things don't last forever without serious investment. At one point or another we'll have serious decisions to make regarding this bridge and these ramps. Are these ramps still even useful in the context of modern Downtown?
But regardless, removing the Monroe and Duval street ramps would seem like a smart move - and it would open up about 2 blocks for new development. It would also make it easier for the city to take another stab at the Duval bridge over Hogan's Creek, as they're right by each other and neither is optimal.
Such an interesting area of town. I've walked it many times during my bus-riding days and between work sites in the area. Always see something walking that you'd never notice driving through. Lots of history left to discover!
Quote from: thelakelander on December 22, 2015, 11:37:23 AM
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/3914233437_wCqnmRF-L.jpg)
The elevated expressway was built for an environment long gone by. As shown above, there was no Gator Bowl Boulevard. Bay Street ended at Florida Avenue (now A. Philip Randolph) and everything south of Forsyth Street and everything between Adams and the riverfront was industrial. Thus, the elevated ramps were initially built to not sever the large industrial tracks of land and companies operating and needing access beneath it. After crossing Hogans Creek, the ramps were then needed to go over the old railyard bordering the Cathedral District.
The most negative impact on the Cathedral District here was the retrofit of residential Monroe and Duval Streets to work as one-way arterials. Now that time has passed and the entire environment in this section of downtown has changed, this entire roadway should be reevaluated when it comes time to replace it.
It's my downtown wet dream to see the whole Mathew/Hart/Bay Street cluster reconfigured. On a side note, I also think Emerson Expressway should have connected to 95. The Hart Bridge is drastically underutilized for that reason, but back to the point. With a few tweaks the Cathedral District could make some amazing strides, its almost ready made for capital investment.
I'm sure the idea has been thrown out there before, but before we go bulldozing the Hart Expressway consider its structural potential. Its hard to understand its scale whizzing through it at 50 mph, but 4 lanes is a lot of surface area. It would make an awesome elevated public space of some kind. Hell, that would be a tourist destination for a city lacking that department.
With that in mind, a portion of it could be repurposed to serve as an elevated structure for a Skyway extension between Liberty Street and Everbank Field, if willing to put it on a road diet.
The Cathedral District area will be the subject of a ULI two-day workshop in January. These efforts, known as Technical Assistance Panels (TAP), bring planners, developers, architects, etc. into a neighborhood or area of a city to identify and evaluate potential opportunities and challenges.
Stay tuned for more information in the next week or so.
Pretty interesting. Good thing they are taking the initiative on this!
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=547267 (http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=547267)