Friendship Fountain Restoration Project To Break Ground

[peestandingup]

Its not about closeness, its about being noticeable & clear.

For one, the Riverwalk itself doesnt connect to each side. Yes, there's a bridge with cars running on it & a small space for a walkway (that you cant see from the ground BTW). But what visitor thinks to get off the Riverwalk, walk up the block (off the Riverwalk) & then cross that bridge on foot?? You only think of it because you know its what to do. Trust me, no one visiting thinks that & there's no signs or anything telling you what to do. Same as the other side. Its not clear & its off the path, so why would anyone??

So, no. Thats a problem whether we all wanna believe it or not. They need to connect both sides of the Riverwalk to itself period, not in some half ass fashion using the Main Street Bridge. Either connect it directly or get free taxi boats that leave every 10 minutes or something like that. It looks like they just went cheap & tried to use the MS Bridge as a conduit because it was already there.

Same thing with the Skyway. Its not distance to the stations, but lack of a clear path on what to do. Here's a whacky idea. Why not a station AT the Landing?? Wouldn't that make sense & be, um, actually useful instead of plopping a couple stations in the middle of nowhere?? Cause I guarantee it would be the busiest Skyway station out of all of them (maybe even more so than the bus terminal stop).

The whole Riverwalk is a good concept for the most part, the infrastructure is generally there & they're doing good work. It just needs tweaked & someone to mull over some of the details like this. Seems a little incomplete. I think most people (esp first time visitors) would probably agree with that.

BTW, Jax as a whole I've noticed doesn't seem like they really do that with their public transportation & just overall pedestrian connectivity in general. It always seems like the people in charge of these things don't actually test out the usability of their systems & designs themselves, eliminate what doesn't work & accentuate what does. Its like they sorta just build it & then leave it alone forever without tweaking it. Am I wrong??

EDIT: Ugh, why the hell is everything quoting??

[Ocklawaha]

"To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer..."  OOP'S still quoting in St. Johns.

A Shweeb monorail connecting the two sides would be spectacular, could be done cheap, it would be unique in the entire world, could be air conditioned (they refrigerate coolers don't they?), healthy, profitable, touristy, for play, for work, for transit, GREEN TECHNOLOGY, for competitions. Just needs some CHA-CHING and a permit or two. http://shweeb.com/   (there is also an American version but the Shweeb is proven)

The transit stop at Central Station is fine for the Skyway but taking the canopied walk from the Omni to the station, and along the foot of Hogan Street. Canopy's would put downtown ahead of Town Center Mall for walking comfort.

Water Street is  "S T R E E T C A R   T E R R I T O R Y."  A connection to the Skyway will be affected at Jacksonville Terminal. If the Skyway were to continue a logical march toward the stadium, it would cross the streetcar line at Bay and Newnan where a second connection is possible.


OCKLAWAHA

[danem]

A Shweeb monorail connecting the two sides would be spectacular, could be done cheap, it would be unique in the entire world, could be air conditioned (they refrigerate coolers don't they?), healthy, profitable, touristy, for play, for work, for transit, GREEN TECHNOLOGY, for competitions. Just needs some CHA-CHING and a permit or two. http://shweeb.com/   (there is also an American version but the Shweeb is proven)

I'll ride that thing. Looks fun! Should it go across the river or run parallel to it?

[Ralph W]

That's a  cool ride. How tall do you have to be to get on that ride? Just enough to reach the pedals?  What are the age limitations? I can see some old codger (or mature woman) getting on and pooping out half-way across the river. Or worse - a heart attack, all alone, dangling from a height beyond ladders or boat deck. Can you imagine JRFD transferring a patient to a stokes after pulling up behind the tube in a rescue tube?

[second_pancake]

That thing is freakin awesome!  Not very practical for a mass-transit sort of thing, but for recreation, and possible revenue (charge a couple bucks a ride...very touristy), it's great!

[iMarvin]

Where is the shweeb thing located?

[danno]

My favorite country.... New Zealand!

[Ocklawaha]

Ralph, that same person might climb out a bus window, pull the emergency door at 30,000 feet, or poop in the middle of Sac's 5Th Avenue, but not to build based on fear would have kept us in caves.

As far as transit is concerned it is very fast, overtaking a slower car just doubles the energy and you run entrain or slow down and move at a different pace. Switches are also designed. Not saying it would ever beat a regular transit vehicle, but a lot of young professionals would jump in a car and peddle to lunch. Y'all are right, it would be the only urban system in the world.

OCKLAWAHA

http://www.youtube.com/v/eN2Q-QlNLdw?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/B5gp-bQPnYM?fs=1&hl=en_US

[tufsu1]

Trust me, no one visiting thinks that & there's no signs or anything telling you what to do. Same as the other side. Its not clear & its off the path, so why would anyone??

there are plenty of visitors staying at Southbank hotels that find the Main St bridge walkway without any problem.

That said, the upcoming riverwalk changes (specifically the ampitheater-like space) will make for better connections.

[peestandingup]

Trust me, no one visiting thinks that & there's no signs or anything telling you what to do. Same as the other side. Its not clear & its off the path, so why would anyone??

there are plenty of visitors staying at Southbank hotels that find the Main St bridge walkway without any problem.

That said, the upcoming riverwalk changes (specifically the ampitheater-like space) will make for better connections.

But we're mostly talking about visitors to downtown finding their way over to that big lighted fountain & the rest of the Riverwalk in general. It's probably safe to say that most visitors to our downtown think that the Riverwalk ends right there. Obviously it doesn't, but how would they know that??

And besides, the Southbank visitors are staying at hotels. And I'd bet you anything that the ones who make their way over to the Northbank on foot got explicit directions from hotel staff on just how to do that. Like I said, it's not at all clear on how to do that without either askink or just knowing first.

[Jason]

What are the last pictures of...the light-looking things in the cement walkway?

There are, what I call, light stanchions along the concrete walkways all around the Fountain, I would expect they will add a great deal to the ambiance at night...

This picture has one right in the forefront...


-Bob
JaxFountain.com

Those light stanchions are called bollard lights.  Assuming they are of descent quality, they should be a nice addition to the park. 

[duvaldude08]

I seen they were wheeling in some more trees this morning when I was pulling into work.

[Bob_Johnson]

I seen they were wheeling in some more trees this morning when I was pulling into work.

They were supposed to be bringing in more trees and palms early this week with the hopes of starting to lay sod towards the end of the week...

I am planning on being down there this Thursday morning so will update then...

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

[duvaldude08]

I seen they were wheeling in some more trees this morning when I was pulling into work.

They were supposed to be bringing in more trees and palms early this week with the hopes of starting to lay sod towards the end of the week...

I am planning on being down there this Thursday morning so will update then...

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

Thanks Bob!

[Tacachale]

Thanks a lot Bob. This is really looking good.