St. Johns County - SR 313 Extension

[Jason]

Given all of the recent discussions about the proposed State Road 313 Extension, I thought it would be best to start a new thread.

I've been following this plan quite closely because it will be VERY close to home for me. 


Here is some information:

Recent "Legislative Action Plan"
http://www.sjcfl.us/media/LegislativeActionPlan.pdf

http://www.co.st-johns.fl.us/LongRangePlanning/media/DRI/RES2010-175.pdf



Most Current route map
ftp://ftp.bocc.co.st-johns.fl.us/gis/media/MapMart/SR313.pdf




There are a couple DRI's that were supposed to pick up the cost of the northern portion of the roadway from SR16 to US1.  Not sure what their status is but they are the mentioned "Flagler" developments.

http://www.nefrpc.org/pdfs/Presentations/Board%20Presentation/2010/06-10/Cordova%20Palms%20DRI%20Overview.pdf

http://www.nefrc.org/pdfs/Presentations/Board%20Presentation/2010/08-10/cordova%20palms%20dri%20recommendation%20report.pdf

[cline]

So basically the northern section of the road is going to cut through SJRWMD conservation/wetlands so that we can build a few thousand more homes for commuters to Jax.  Great.  Sounds like that's just what we need.

[Jason]

Portions of the district.  Some of the areas the roadway would hit are already zoned for industrial and commercial development tied to the airport area.

[Tacachale]

^Yeah, that's just what we need out there.

[Charles Hunter]

According to the DOTs website, they plan on spending about $13 million to buy right of way for the southern portion over the next couple years.
http://www.d2wpph.com/download.html
Select "St. Johns County Tentative Work Program" - the project is a little more than half-way down the first page.

Doesn't look like they have anything for the north part (the line above the south part).

[Ocklawaha]

Portions of the district.  Some of the areas the roadway would hit are already zoned for industrial and commercial development tied to the airport area.

Northbound on the FEC RY pulling into St. Augustine Station, note the tracks on the far left, they spread out and covered everything from US-1 to the San Sebastian River. Along the riverfront, huge buildings took care of the railroads equipment.


Miller Shops, St. Augustine


Miller Shops, St. Augustine

There was a second and older yard sandwiched between the river and the FEC RY office buildings including St. Augustine Union Station which sat where the new fire station is today. BTW, the fire station is a close copy of the old RR building.


It's not nearly as 'industrial' as it was 50 years ago when the huge railroad yard and Miller Shops of the Florida East Coast in St. Augustine were in use. The original mainline left the current one at the crazy 's' curve where King Street crosses the railroad and went west to East Palatka. It then looped back from East Palatka to Bunnell where it rejoined the current mainline. Included in this were the St. Johns River Drawbridge in downtown Palatka which gave FEC RY trains access to Union Station (the current Amtrak depot), as well as a branchline to San Mateo. East Palatka was the home of a sprawling state farm market and carloads of produce were shipped out of there in season. Hastings, Spuds and Elkton likewise added carloads of produce. All of this went to the yard in St. Augustine to be sorted. St. Augustine was also the home to the steam locomotive shops for the railroad. It was very impressive. Today it's a Winn Dixie and a field of weeds.

[Jason]

According to the DOTs website, they plan on spending about $13 million to buy right of way for the southern portion over the next couple years.
http://www.d2wpph.com/download.html
Select "St. Johns County Tentative Work Program" - the project is a little more than half-way down the first page.

Doesn't look like they have anything for the north part (the line above the south part).

The developer (Flagler) was supposed to fund the northern portion as part of the DRI agreement.

[Jason]

Thanks for the history lesson Ock!  Had no idea those heavy maintenance shops were there

[cantbackup]

Anything new on this Road?  The last I heard, the DOT was going to study a slightly different path, but nothing since. 

[Jason]

From what I've seen recently on the DOT website, it appears the route is set and the only hold ups are the ROW purchases through the phase 1 leg (207 to SR16) and then the final deal still needs to be brokered for the phase 2 leg (SR16 to US1 by airport).  Looks like construction would still be slated for 2015-2016 at the earliest, if the state money comes.

[cantbackup]

I believe even Michael Wanchik was expecting a planned reroute of this road.  But, the DOT officials most recently told us they were proceeding with the old plan.  There is a meeting Monday night Dec. 9 of the FDOT priorities for St. Johns County in Jax.

[Jason]

^ Cantbackup, did you go to the meeting?