St. Augustine - Amtrak choses city site for terminal

[Jason]

Amtrak choses city site for terminal

Location will be at end of Malaga

By PETER GUINTA  |   More by this reporter  |  peter.guinta@staugustine.com  |   Posted: Sunday, October 4, 2009 ; Updated: 11:04 PM on Sunday, October 4, 2009

Passenger-rail giant Amtrak has selected a site at the end of Malaga Street, across U.S. 1 and north and west of the Main Fire Station, as the site where a new railroad passenger terminal should be built.

Vice Mayor Errol Jones said Friday that there once was a Flagler-era station near that spot.

"I definitely felt that the station should be down here, not up at the airport," Jones said. "It made sense to place it within the city itself."

When completed, the $120 million passenger rail project will cover 326 miles of Florida's east coast, between Jacksonville and Miami, providing rail service to 11 counties and 8.3 million Floridians.

Mark Knight, the city's director of planning and building, said the Florida Department of Transportation told him that federal stimulus money could be available, but if not the DOT would fund the project.

Knight helped coordinate Northeast Florida cities and counties for the Amtrak project.

The application for Recovery Act stimulus money was sent Friday. The award should be announced next month and arrive in December or January.

"We'll have a manned station," Knight said. "Earlier Amtrak said our station would be unmanned, but they just told us we'll be one of the two manned stations from here to Cocoa. It'll be a (full) train station, not just a stop on the road."

Kim Delaney of Stuart, chair of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, oversees the Amtrak-Florida East Coast Corridor Project, but could not be reached for comment Friday.

Knight said the DOT will construct the station, St. Augustine will maintain it and Amtrak will run the trains and station.

Amtrak documents said, "Early ridership forecasts indicate up to 250,000 annual riders for this service."

Passenger train service could start in October 2012.

St. Augustine City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline, a member of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, said the last regular service on that corridor ended in 1968.

"Rail is part of our future to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," she said.

It will also greatly relieve traffic on Interstate 95.

There was an effort in 2001, where Amtrak ran a special demonstration passenger train from Jacksonville to Miami -- stopping at St. Augustine to pick up dignitaries -- and then back.

But, one official said, that turned into "a hairy situation" politically because, for one thing, "stops south of Daytona were in question."

And discord arose between Amtrak and Florida East Coast, which owns the track, over who'd pay for building additional sidings needed so freight trains could pull over and let passenger trains pass, or visa versa.

A regular trip from Jacksonville to Miami will take six hours, Amtrak said.

Jones said he's ridden Amtrak trains a few times.

"You see a lot of things traveling by rail that you don't normally see," Jones said. "It's great if you have some time. You sit back and enjoy the ride."

Proposed new stations include: St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce and Stuart.

Existing stations include: Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami.

[Jason]

Man, this is huge news for St. Augustine.  The ideal location and it sets up more potential for a streetcar connection from Malaga to King Street and on down to the new garage.  A trip to St. Augustine could be 100% car free!!

[thelakelander]

Great location.  If we can ever get commuter rail off the ground, you would be able to travel from DT Jax to the historic district without a car.  Hopefully, the city can develop a land use plan along this area to densify and revitalize that stretch of US 1.

[FayeforCure]

Man, this is huge news for St. Augustine.  The ideal location and it sets up more potential for a streetcar connection from Malaga to King Street and on down to the new garage.  A trip to St. Augustine could be 100% car free!!

As it should be,..........shamefully they built a giant parking garage just a few years ago.

[NthDegree]

The station location is good, near historic downtown,the city multi-modal center and visitor information center.  It works now and can be improved upon.  Its been a long time (1968) since St. Augustine has had passenger rail -- the more things change the more they stay the same. 

[stjr]

So, if we could get Amtrak in Downtown Jax, area residents and Jax visitors could hop on it for a nice day trip to St. Augustine or Daytona and return back to Jax.  Would be super for convention excursions too.  We need to get Amtrak back downtown for this to be a huge success.

If St. Augustine's station is now designated, what is up with ours?

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, we're not getting a new station.  Shortsightedness I guess.  Ours will still be located off of US 1 in Northwest Jacksonville.

[stjr]

Unfortunately, we're not getting a new station.  Shortsightedness I guess.  Ours will still be located off of US 1 in Northwest Jacksonville.

Guess what?  Before long, St. Augustine could be a bigger Amtrak stop than Jax then.  Why?  Everyone in Clay, St. Johns, and in Duval south of the St. Johns will chose their stop over Northwest Jax.  Better location and neighborhood for all these people.  Downtown Jax will be on the sidelines.  No Downtown restaurant stops for waiting family and friends or newly arrived visitors, no exposure to the City of Jax, just St. Augustine, and no extra guests in the Downtown hotels by guests waiting to start their travel in the area after a late PM arrival or to end them here with an early AM departure.

What is the friggin' big deal?  Built a cheap tempo station at Prime Osborne until something better comes along.  The Federal Reserve building may also be an option with their downsizing and space for rent signs.  Has anyone looked at their property for a station?

[thelakelander]

What is the friggin' big deal?  Built a cheap tempo station at Prime Osborne until something better comes along.

That would make sense.  Perhaps that's the problem?  It makes too much sense.  Anyway, kudos to St. Augustine.  At least this community seems to get it.  I'm looking forward to what they will put up.  Knowing that its adjacent to the historic district, it should be impressive.

[reednavy]

That would make sense.  Perhaps that's the problem?  It makes too much sense.

I'd rather have that, rather driving through the hood to get to a stupidly located Amtrak station. It is far removedfrom the overall population center of the metro area, which is probably in San Jose or something.

Common sense lacks in the transit dept. apparently.

[civil42806]

Man, this is huge news for St. Augustine.  The ideal location and it sets up more potential for a streetcar connection from Malaga to King Street and on down to the new garage.  A trip to St. Augustine could be 100% car free!!

As it should be,..........shamefully they built a giant parking garage just a few years ago.

shame on them!  How dare they cater to the tourists

[tufsu1]

What is the friggin' big deal?  Built a cheap tempo station at Prime Osborne until something better comes along.

That would make sense.  Perhaps that's the problem?  It makes too much sense.  Anyway, kudos to St. Augustine.  At least this community seems to get it.  I'm looking forward to what they will put up.  Knowing that its adjacent to the historic district, it should be impressive.

The FEC application states that the initial phase includes a stop at the current Amtrak station...in the second phase, service is moved to the JRTC (Prime Osborn) - to be built by others.

BTW....The North Florida TPO endorsed 3 projects for TIGER funding, including the JRTC....but from what I can tell, a decision was made at the state level to funnel all that potential grant money to the Miami Intermodal Center

[thelakelander]

Any idea of how much it would cost to set up a temporary station make shift at the Prime Osborn?

[tufsu1]

no clue...but I think it was reported that the St. Augustine station would cost about $15 million

[Jason]

Faye, I think the garage will work to St. Augustine's/Amtrak's advantage especially if it is linked to the new station via heritage streetcar.  The gagage can then become a satellite parking area for commuters and travellers.  It also provides a service to those that visit St. Augustine by car.