The End of State Road 9A

[tufsu1]

Why don't we make it a "Toll Road"..............we could get something for our tax dollars that way?

do you really want to add tolls to what is today a "free" ropad?  This could have been an option with the 5th and 6th lanes that were recently added (HOT lanes), but now that they're in, no way....so unless you're willing to widen JTB further, I think tolls are out.

[stjr]

If the road were to get an interstate designation, it would most likely be I-995....as 195, 395, and 595 are already taken in south Florida and some believe that SR 9B has already been granted the 795 designation.

Thinking out of the box a little bit, to facilitate I-10 being the coast to coast highway, they could extend the I-10 name further east to reach the beach. Not impossible, but not likely.

How about I-6 or I-8?  After all, how many interstates could be built south of I-10 and north of I-4?

We could make it famous as the nation's shortest interstate!  

[Ocklawaha]

I always wish we had some sort of identity on the roadways, like tampa's signs on their interstates:



Something to distinguish us.

WE DO! We just don't know it...YET.

OCKLAWAHA

[Jdog]

I just mailed FDOT and it looks like it's going to be a bit longer:

We received last month the needed approval from the Federal Highway Administration to make the changes. The current schedule is construction bids will be received next February. There is a 150-day procurement time to order materials such as trusses and new signs so I would expect that you should see the start of actual work by late summer or early fall of 2011. This is obviously subject to change, but the major hurdle was getting the approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The regulatory issues have been satisfied so now we can go through the process of advertising the project for construction bids.

The signs still on track?  Also, will they employ the "Beltway" terminology? 

[tufsu1]

they will employ the "Beltway" terminology...you can see this on the new signs going up on I-10 west of town

[Jaxson]

Paging Charles Hunter!

[Charles Hunter]

IIRC, they will be called the "East Beltway" and "West Beltway" (you figure out which is which).  I heard at CPAC the other night that the contractor has been selected, and work will start later this year.  All of the loop will be I-295.

[Jdog]

Got an email from the FDOT today (take that unresponsive JTA) and it's just as you say: Bid awarded in February to a Tampa company, should start putting up the signs in September, and finish in the spring.  FYI: Not that I doubted you --- I sent the email prior to the last MJ post.   

Didn't know there were signs up on I-10 already.  I'll look for them next time I'm out there. 

[videojon]

Speaking of that, the two times I have e-mailed FDOT about something, they have been very good to respond.

[iMarvin]

It's finally happening. Signage will start going up tomorrow:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- State Road 9A is being turned over to the feds.

Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Goldman announced this morning that State Road 9A will now become Interstate 295, meaning the entire 61-mile loop around Jacksonville will officially be the same road.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK

I-295 currently runs on the west side of I-95 from the Northside to Mandarin, and 9A comprises the eastern half of the road.

Starting Dec. 4, the names of both will change.

What is currently State Road 9A will become the "I-295 East Beltway," and the current I-295 will be the "I-295 West Beltway."

RELATED: See the New Exit Numbers

Goldman said a $1.3 million project will get underway next week to change about 350 signs throughout the loop and its access roads, and add 13 new sign structures.  The money is being provided by the Florida DOT.

The work should last through the winter and be completed in the spring.  During the project, lanes may be closed from 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

The contractor is Tampa-based Highway Safety Devices, Inc., and the Jacksonville office of Jones, Edmonds and Associates Construction Engineering Services is managing the project.

Once complete, the I-295 beltway will be part of the federal interstate highway system.

First Coast News

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/rss/article/229258/3/I-295-SR-9A-Getting-13-Million-Name-Change
http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/wtlv/docs/exits.pdf

[Coolyfett]

It's finally happening. Signage will start going up tomorrow:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- State Road 9A is being turned over to the feds.

Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Goldman announced this morning that State Road 9A will now become Interstate 295, meaning the entire 61-mile loop around Jacksonville will officially be the same road.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK

I-295 currently runs on the west side of I-95 from the Northside to Mandarin, and 9A comprises the eastern half of the road.

Starting Dec. 4, the names of both will change.

What is currently State Road 9A will become the "I-295 East Beltway," and the current I-295 will be the "I-295 West Beltway."

RELATED: See the New Exit Numbers

Goldman said a $1.3 million project will get underway next week to change about 350 signs throughout the loop and its access roads, and add 13 new sign structures.  The money is being provided by the Florida DOT.

The work should last through the winter and be completed in the spring.  During the project, lanes may be closed from 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

The contractor is Tampa-based Highway Safety Devices, Inc., and the Jacksonville office of Jones, Edmonds and Associates Construction Engineering Services is managing the project.

Once complete, the I-295 beltway will be part of the federal interstate highway system.

First Coast News

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/rss/article/229258/3/I-295-SR-9A-Getting-13-Million-Name-Change
http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/wtlv/docs/exits.pdf

Thats positive. good to see 9A Dead.

[Timkin]

I think it is and has always been interesting that a beltway around a city is deemed an "Interstate" .   I would call it the 295 belt way or the beltway or that road or whatever but since 295 (last time I checked, anyway) only circles Jacksonville, it does not seem to me like it would have "Interstate Status"   . just sayin   

[tufsu1]

9A is not dead....every interstate and US highway in Florida also has a state road #...so the state ID for I-295 will continue to be 9A.

as to Timkin's point above, the 3-digit interstates are loops or spurs off of the base 2-digit highways...so, in Florida, those would be I-110, I-195, I-295, I-395, I-595, I-175, I-275, and I-375,,,and if Ock is correct, SR 9B may be I-795

[danem]

9A is not dead....every interstate and US highway in Florida also has a state road #...so the state ID for I-295 will continue to be 9A.

as to Timkin's point above, the 3-digit interstates are loops or spurs off of the base 2-digit highways...so, in Florida, those would be I-110, I-195, I-295, I-395, I-595, I-175, I-275, and I-375,,,and if Ock is correct, SR 9B may be I-795

Yeah they are a subset of the interstates they are attached to. Gotta love wikipedia, I learn so much nearly useless info. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_auxiliary_Interstate_Highways

[strider]

I guess that it is great news that with all the budget cuts and the cut backs on all levels that FDOT is spending $1.3 million just to change the name of a road? Did this recession end and nobody told me?  And all those funds going to an out of town company.  Yep. makes perfect sense to me.