State Rd 9B

thelakelander · October 06, 2009, 10:52:45 PM

Do you have any facts to back up your belief that roads have better value or is it just a hunch/personal preference?

British Shoe Company · October 06, 2009, 11:19:32 PM

Hunch, We have tracks already built from St. Aug to Jax. It would be cost efficient to build a destination/departure station at Phillips, and Southside Blvd. Run a train service for people. It would help the overflow on US1 (Phillips Hwy). It could run to a few stops further, depending on how far northward it should be go. (need camera's on board to deter crime)

thelakelander · October 06, 2009, 11:36:00 PM

I don't think crime on trains will be much of an issue. The days of Jessie James are over. You are probably just as likely to get carjacked at a stop light than robbed on a public train.

British Shoe Company · October 08, 2009, 11:52:55 PM

A camera a safe way to deter crime. If a crime does take place, having film is good.

British Shoe Company · October 10, 2009, 07:08:42 PM

Digital recording! Calm down Kodak.

Ocklawaha · October 10, 2009, 10:55:09 PM

Quote from: British Shoe Company on October 06, 2009, 08:55:26 PM
First, has anybody priced rail infrastructure costs? Secondly, it makes road building seem very cheap compared to rail infrastructure upkeep costs !

Quote from: British Shoe Company on October 06, 2009, 10:47:25 PM
fufsu, will you do the math, and see if I am correct. I believe roads will be a better value.

Heavy main line, figure $1.3 Million per mile to build, as a general rule of thumb. Heavy grading, bridges, tunnels and the like raise this number considerably.

Maintenance costs are dependent on the geography (tangent track is cheaper than heavy curvature) and climate where the tracks lie, as well as volume of traffic and the intended speed over which trains are to be operated. The more extreme the given demands for a stretch of railroad, the higher the maintenance costs.

The latest figures I heard of 1.25 mil, give or take. The land acquisition is gelerally much more than the cost of construction.

As for maintenance, that can vary tremendously depending on the terrain and traffic.
For instance, passenger or light freight use, maintenance would be very little until the ties needed replacing and that could be 20 years or more.

For heavy freight service such as grain or coal lines it would be much much greater but still only a fraction of the maintenance involved in a mile of highway moving the same tonnage by truck.

Theyâ€™re building a railroad in Thailand thatâ€™s $220 million for 70 miles, for just over $3 million per mile.

Back in the middle 1980s it was one million dollars per mile for new construction, and maintenance can vary. That depends on use and if there are defects. Weather, storms and such. Maintenance is very hard to get dollar specific.

For class 2 you can count on 1 million a mile new, 300,000 per year to upkeep plus bridges and stuff.

Now, someone want to post those money saving highways? How much did that overpass at Atlantic and Kernan cost? How about Beach? What's our current per mile cost in Jax? Sorry British Shoe Company, if your thinking concrete or asphalt is cheaper then rail, I've got a mountain for sale 15 miles south of Waycross that your going to love!

OCKLAWAHA

tufsu1 · October 11, 2009, 01:47:42 AM

Quote from: British Shoe Company on October 06, 2009, 10:47:25 PM
fufsu, will you do the math, and see if I am correct. I believe roads will be a better value.

oops...sorry I missed this post

here's the bottom line....road construction and operations/maintenance costs are generally less than transit...but roads have a finite capacity (there's only so many cars you can fit on 6 lanes of asphalt)...but additional transit capacity is much easier...just add more trains/buses.

British Shoe Company · October 11, 2009, 01:46:08 PM

Do we have that many people to justify building roads?

reednavy · October 11, 2009, 02:30:23 PM

Similar-sized metro areas such as Nashville, Austin, and Charlotte have gotten the message, rail is a very important and necessary form of transit. Roads such as 9B go through the middle of nowhere and forests that will then entice developers to come and build, requiring more roads, clogging the already ones in place.

It is just a snowball that keeps growing.

stjr · October 11, 2009, 03:30:10 PM

Take the 9B money and buy a bus shelter without ads for every street corner in Northeast Florida. It would do us all a lot better.

British Shoe Company · October 11, 2009, 07:56:10 PM

I agree, take the 9B money, and build that road!
I could not have said that better!

British Shoe Company · October 11, 2009, 07:57:40 PM

Quote from: reednavy on October 11, 2009, 02:30:23 PM
Similar-sized metro areas such as Nashville, Austin, and Charlotte have gotten the message, rail is a very important and necessary form of transit. Roads such as 9B go through the middle of nowhere and forests that will then entice developers to come and build, requiring more roads, clogging the already ones in place.

It is just a snowball that keeps growing.

British Shoe Company · October 11, 2009, 08:12:39 PM

9B is gonna happen. Do not be angry. We are the last Southern City in the South. The rest of Florida is different than us. We are years away from needing a new expensive way to get from St. Aug. to Jax.(and back). If we wait, that same technology will be cheaper by the time the Metro Jax area is in need of "Mass transit to, and from Jax. to St Aug."

reednavy · October 11, 2009, 08:14:50 PM

They should be using that money to widen 9A, not building a new road that is not needed. Use what you already have in place before you go building new, needless roads.

Why shouldn't we be angry about 9B? It is a frecking waste of resources.

British Shoe Company · October 11, 2009, 08:54:15 PM

9A is getting it's bang for it's buck. Give 9B a chance. Trust me