First Coast Outer Beltway: Should it be Built?

[tufsu1]

Who pays for the police?

that is an operational cost....I thought all we were talking about here is the $1.8 Billion capital cost.

here's a question though (and this doesn't reflect my own personal viewpoint)....how do you think most people in north Florida would feel if they were told their gas tax dollars were being used to finance transit projects instead of road construction/maintenance?

[thelakelander]

Who pays for the police?

that is an operational cost....I thought all we were talking about here is the $1.8 Billion capital cost.

here's a question though (and this doesn't reflect my own personal viewpoint)....how do you think most people in north Florida would feel if they were told their gas tax dollars were being used to finance transit projects instead of road construction/maintenance?

If the actual numbers were shown for each, with transit being used as an alternative option, I think you would be suprised.

[Debbie Thompson]

Ummm.....wasn't this what I-295 was supposed to be - a bypass around Jacksonville traffic on I-95?  As soon as you permit building a road with less traffic, developers snap up the land around it and build a gazillion houses and strip malls. Presto chango, no more low traffic beltway.

[TheProfessor]

more sprawl???  Unless the state is totally paying for this, I don't think it should be built.  It will only generate more sprawl.

[thelakelander]

Project backers hope a private entity will pay for the construction of the toll road.  Most likely, we'll (John Q. Taxpayer) will be on the hook to fund everything else (ex. connector roads, additional police/fire/schools needed to accommodate future sprawl growth, etc.).

[tufsu1]

Lake...remember that new residents/businesses pay for at least a portion of the costs the growth brings...one of Florida's biggest problems is that we've been relying on new growth to pay for today's needs for a long time...it is basically a statewide ponzi scheme.

[hightowerlover]

all of this can be overcome with overhead gondolas!

[thelakelander]

Lake...remember that new residents/businesses pay for at least a portion of the costs the growth brings...one of Florida's biggest problems is that we've been relying on new growth to pay for today's needs for a long time...it is basically a statewide ponzi scheme.

We can grow without more expressways and new highways feeding them (primarily to open virgin land for low density sprawl).  If we develop smartly, the cost of future growth will be less of a burden on existing and new residents.  The plan, as currently conceived, is about as far away from smart as we can be.

[finehoe]

The question to ask of this and similar projects: cui bono. To whose benefit?

[reednavy]

all of this can be overcome with overhead gondolas!

Not no, but hell no as well.

[JaxNative68]

^^Whatever happened to the gondolas they wanted to build over the river from King Street Station parking garage to Metro Park?

[wsansewjs]

Here I come, ladies and gentlemen! This is going to be my first major post and rolling in full swing by joining the causes in supporting smart solutions for Jacksonville and its greater area of their own ongoing and annoying issues. I have been lurking this website for over a year and half, and I felt like I should make my move...


The answer: Another road project?! Are you -bleepin- kidding me?! I have lived in Orange Park for almost 20 years and watched its intense growth. Orange Park actually has gotten worse and lost its own charm as a small town. I personally think Orange Park is dead. It is now full of business rubbish since it resembles as a "Las-Vegas of business." The Beltway proposal is not going to help the overall situation at all in congestion. It is hard to determine if it will have an impact on an area or few.

If you want to look at this way, the problem is really simple. There are too many of us with so many cars that flood the entire area. The current roads cannot handle the volume of the cars at its peak hours. Obviously, I may be biased because I do not have a car due to my ongoing blindness which is why it motivates me so much to help this city and its surroundings to have the best transportation system as possible. I currently do live in Jacksonville in the Southside section which is smack right in middle of everything and still lags in performance for public transportation.

Based on every articles I have read here and discussed on other websites/media outlet, they all has been ringing the same bell for the major solution... the significant and amazing Light Rail Train system. We got to do something about this, obviously.


Your new fellow member,
Josh Simpson

[CS Foltz]

Big Guy.............join the crowd! LRT is something that should have been initiated long before now and is still just a dream to most! More concrete is not the answer and the powers that be just don't get it! Maybe they can be worn down........but more and more are seeing the light.......by the way welcome!

[fsu813]

"Florida Department of Transportation officials want citizen feeback on whether the First Coast Outer Beltway should have a bridge over the St. Johns River north or south of Green Cove Springs. They also want feedback on where the road should meet with I-95 in St. Johns County.

The Outer Beltway will be discussed at four meetings in the next two weeks. Information on the project can be found at www.sjrbridge.com. People wishing to comment on the project can speak at the meeting or e-mail Brandi Vittur at brandi.vittur@dot.state.fl.us.

The public meeting times are:

- Monday, Feb. 22 World Golf Village Renaissance Resort 500 S. Legacy Trail St. Augustine Doors open: 3 p.m. Presentation: 4:30 p.m. with a repeat at 7 p.m.

- Thursday, Feb. 25 St. Johns Community College Thrasher Horne Conference Center 283 College Drive Orange Park Doors open: 3 p.m. Presentation: 4:30 p.m. with a repeat at 7 p.m.

- Tuesday, March 2 Clay County Fairgrounds 2496 W. Florida 16 Green Cove Springs Doors open: 3 p.m. Presentation: 4:30 p.m. with a repeat at 7 p.m.

- Thursday, March 4 Cecil Conference Center 12541 Lake Newman St. Jacksonville Doors open: 4:30 p.m. Presentation: 6:30 p.m.

Florida Department of Transportation"

[fightingosprey07]

This project should absolutely not be built! The only real reason that they give for wanting it built is to reduce congestion on Blanding, but this road won't do that. If the commuters that take blanding were trying to get to Green Cove Springs or I-10, they wouldn't be on blanding in the first place. There are already roads that go to these locations, and they aren't all that congested.

The only thing this project would accomplish would be more urban sprawl. But unfortunately, that seems to be our current administration's goal.