Outer Beltway Placed On Hold

[stephenc]

Outer Beltway project placed on hold
Posted: Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
By LARRY HANNAN
The Times-Union
One of the largest road construction projects in Northeast Florida has been indefinitely delayed.
Florida Department of Transportation District Secretary Charlie Baldwin said Tuesday that the planned construction of the outer beltway that would connect Interstate 10 with Interstate 95 on the west side of Jacksonville will not be occurring on schedule because of questions on how property taxes can be used as part of the project.
Baldwin could not way how long the delay would last. The project is expected to cost about $1.8 billion and FDOT officials had hoped to get construction started by 2010.
The first Coast Outer Beltway would be a 46.5 mile, four-lane toll road that would connect Interstate 95 in St. Johns County to Interstate 10 in Duval County. It would be one of the state’s first public-private partnerships, which is formed between a public agency like FDOT and private sector businesses.
FDOT had planned to bring in an investment group that would finance, design, build and maintain the road. The investors would recoup their money through tolls while the state would own the road.
But that public private partnership is now delaying the project because of uncertainty over how state collected property taxes can be used in a project that involves a private investment group, Baldwin said.

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/04/29/outer-beltway-project-placed-on-hold/

I knew this was to good to be true.

[thelakelander]

Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

[fightingosprey07]

This is good news in my opinion. An Outer Beltway would only lead to more sprawl

[Joe]

Awesome!! Don't get me wrong, if you're going to build a freeway, a public-private partnership is one of the least-offensive ways to do it.

However, there are so many braindead aspects to this proposal, that I would be thrilled if the project (in its current form) stayed dead.

[thelakelander]

Yeah, one of the worst was the decision to tear down the Shands Bridge and make the new crossing toll, as opposed to keeping the Shands open and taking advantage of a new highway to provide an additional river crossing between Orange Park and Green Cove Springs.

[fightingosprey07]

Quote from FDOT press release:

“This beltway project is very important to Florida and to the region as it will ensure the
mobility of people and goods and enhance economic prosperity while at the same time preserving the
quality of our environment and communities along this important corridor,” said Charles Baldwin,
FDOT District Two Secretary. “The FDOT is still committed to serving the needs of the region and
providing a transportation system that is safe and efficient.”

http://www.fdotfirstcoastouterbeltway.com/forum_docs/News%20Release%204-29-2008.pdf


How exactly would this project help at "preserving the quality of our environment"?

[Steve]

No way this just happened.....

[tufsu1]

wow.   great news.

wonder why they didnt list the 'private' group?

there's no conspiracy here....no decision had been made....many firms bid and the shortlist was supposed to occur in early May

[stephenc]

I liked the idea because I thought for once they were planning ahead. By the time this thing is done, Clay and St. Johns will be in need of it. I didnt like the idea of replacing the Shands Bridge. I would have choose one of the other plans that proposed adding another bridge up stream.

[JeffreyS]

This is a minor delay.  You should see how fast the work is being done on this.  If you have a pickup you can already exit the highway and drive the beltway from I 10 to Cecil Field.  I maybe should have let everyone enjoy this for a while but this is happening.

[tufsu1]

the project currently under construction is a different road....its the Brannan Field-Chafee project that's been planned for at least 15 years....that said, the Outer beltway does include the road as part of its length

[JeffreyS]

Is this section just public development then?  I did see workers out there this morning. Conecting Cecil is the most important part of this project.

[Jason]

Jeffrey is right, this is just a minor delay.  This road will be built in some form.

[Charles Hunter]

The work underway now will connect I-10 to a new entrance to Cecil Commerce Center, somewhere north of Normandy.
Link: http://bfcxpress.com/segments/details.asp?ProjectID=2