JTA Seeks $100 Million for JTB Interchange After Just Spending $14 Million

[Captain Zissou]

What about in the existing ROW on the South side of JTB?  The only area that would cause problems is around Belfort (Borland Groover clinic and the Quadrant buildings are in the way) and between Southside and 9a (LandMar HQ, American Enterprise Bank, and FBI).  I think they should have planned for a rail line in that ROW from the beginning.

[tufsu1]

the original idea was for JTB's median to be used for rail or HOV lanes....obviously, the plan changed with the recent widening.

[Ocklawaha]

Ock.............good idea! You go far enough on I95 north and all of a sudden it becomes a toll road out of the clear bule sky! I still have not figured that one out and how they were able to do it! Only way I know of is to use bond money to continue a road......makes me wonder how usefull eminent domain might be!

huh?

$10.00 at the Inconsternation Creek Bridge! TUFSU, this isn't a smart ass remark or an original idea, Illinois recently started nailing Wisconsin residents that are pouring into Chicago every morning. The toll? Hell, ever cross one of the bridges from New Jersey into New York City? CHA-CHING!  The tourists wouldn't flinch at a $10 dollar fee, and we could protect the locals and commuters.


OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

I understood the toll concept Ock....just not what CS said

[fsujax]

I know that JTA approached the idea of HOT lanes with FDOT before the widening

[thelakelander]

I stopped by the meeting and left a comment about the importance of considering transit, pedestrian and bike connections along this corridor.  It looks like it may be possible to at least run a 12' multiuse path along the southside of JTB, combining it with the flyover structure to get it over I-95.  This would at least make it possible to walk or bike between the commuter rail station and the retail, residential and office uses on both sides of I-95 in Southpoint.  For mass transit, you're looking at a bus shuttle or a complete redesign of what's been produced at this point.

[Jim]

If they aren't considering mass transit, at least with a means to efficiently add it on later, then the whole project needs to fed into a paper shredder.

The idiocy of contemplating a $100 million transit project at the cross section of 2 of the busiest corridors in the city situated next to a potential TOD location without a mass transit portion is staggering.   

If they'd do things right the first time, they'd save billions in the long run.  If they only look at the absolute bare minimum requirements of today, it's out dated the day they finish the project.

[thelakelander]

You're dead on.  The guy doing the presentation tonight even mentioned the commuter rail project and station site as additional JTA projects in the works.  Developing a $100 million project without integrating it with other projects/modes you're working on screams of uncordination.

[Jim]

Did I read correctly that they consider this to be a full on solution?   Unlike the $14 million project which is more of a stop-gap?

The lack of mass transit completely negates the full solution status of the $100 project rendering it stop-gap just the same.

I get it, we like our cars but by having our transit agency focus solely on that one means of transportation it forces us to live and die by the motorized carriage.  Wait, I'm mistaken.  They seem to have a BRT fetish as well.

[thelakelander]

The old dedicated busway plan is dead or at least not indicated on this current project.  My guess is that BRT will end up being a bus traveling on regular Philips Highway lanes.

[Jim]

Oh hallelujah. If it weren't the source of just as much ire, I'd go to FBC on Sunday.

Good to know that they can at least come to see reason when fronted with enough facts and logic.  Hopefully that same modicum of intelligence will make an appearance early in the planning here to include mass transit.

[spuwho]

The $14 Million was always known as interim spending of which the funds came from the TBJP. In fact, JTA got lit up by the auditors for slacking on JTB and fixing Kernan first.

Most people have forgotten that when the original planning for JTB was done in the mid to late 60's, it was originally supposed to go northwest and connect to the Hart Bridge Expressway. However, a city councilman of unknown name in that era blocked it as it would have displaced some older homes in the Parental Home area.

So the Hart was terminated into Beach and JTB ended up being a dysfunctional intersection at I-95.

The original idea by the planners was to have inbound traffic sourced from the beach route directly to the downtown, not be diverted over a major N/S national highway to reach the inner city.

As hindsight is always 20/20, they could have overcome this political roadblock when Southside was risen over Beach, that is when they should have put a fly over ramp and elevated roadway above Beach that would permit JTB'ers to access the city via the Hart Bridge and avoid the I-95 bottleneck.

I haven't seen any statistics as of late, but IMHO, the Hart bridge appears underutilized. Hard to believe it was justified back in 1965.

With Congress throwing out "stimulus funds" with abandon lately, many state DOT's across the country are pushing forward to get projects as close to "shovel ready" as possible, so when our highly leveraged treasury is opened up once again, it will increase the chances to being funded.

Also as seen with the resurrection of the 9B project, bids are coming in extremely lower than usual. JTA may want to get this to bid ASAP to see if they can get it done cheaper than planned.

[Mattius92]

First the JTB/I-95 interchange is going to be have VERY well designed. That spot it a major junction for traffic in several directions.

I wonder if the Commodore Point X-way could be extended to JTB. Though not anytime soon, but it could be possibility.

[Jim]

The Commodore Point Expressway would need to extend at least 2.8 miles and cut through a lot of "currently" new housing and/or retail projects at Touchton Rd and Gate pkwy.  Even in the future I can't see them getting enough ROW funding to make that one happen.  And crossing Southside before connecting to JTB simply isn't feasible.

It would have made for a great I-95 alternative had they handled it right the first time.

[Mattius92]

Yeah, for I-95 alternatives we have I-295, but an inner city alternative would of been nice.

Some sort of mass transit needs to be extended to the beaches. This is an very interesting feat though, since there is no rail east of I-95.