Mandarin residents see I-295 edge closer to homes; bypassed by benefit

[cline]

I am very impressed with what Tommy Hazzouri posted on his campaign Facebook page yesterday about this.

https://www.facebook.com/tommyforjax?fref=nf

While I don't necessarily agree with the project, this outrage would have been more effective during the planning process rather than after construction has begun. 

I agree with what one of the comments said on his FB page- Nobody said a damn thing about the walls and destruction of homes and trees for the Overland Bridge project. 

[tufsu1]

maybe we have hit a tipping point.  There has been a whole lot of road construction in this town that is affecting natural areas and buffers.  9B, Outer Beltway, I-295, and now the JTB interchange.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

maybe we have hit a tipping point.

If you mean starting to intrude on residents with some clout who are against a project, then yeah...  maybe.

[coredumped]

I wish that were true, but contracts have been signed, money has changed hands. There's no stopping this.

[thelakelander]

^Pretty much. If you don't get actively engaged early on, you most likely won't end up with a final design solution that you prefer. There's no reason, Mandarin couldn't have ended up with a couple of extra perks like Riverside and San Marco did with the Overland and Fuller Warren Bridge projects. All it would have taken is getting active early.

[mbwright]

It seems like this was a done deal before anybody knew about it.

[David]

^ it did seem to sneak up on everyone. Didn't realize there was a project underway until the trees started coming down.

[coredumped]

The first public hearing (that I can find) was almost 2 years ago, back in Feb 2013:

http://www.news4jax.com/news/FDOT-to-discuss-I-295-toll-express-lanes/18497596

[thelakelander]

Image of project from a Jan. 2014 MJ article.

This project has been discussed for a while. The widening project was listed in the 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which was adopted in 2009. You can see it on the LRTP Cost Feasible project map on the last page of this document:

http://www.northfloridatpo.com/images/uploads/general/LRTP_summbrochure.pdf

There are a few threads and articles about this project that have popped up on this website as well:


Image from a 2012 TU article: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-06-14/story/toll-roads-returning-jacksonville-2017. "B" ended up not being feasible and that money was switched to the go to the widening of the Fuller Warren Bridge about a year ago. When we caught wind last December, we immediately lobbied to get a share use path included to connect Riverside and San Marco.

June 2012
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=15309.0

January 2014
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-jan-i-295-express-lanes-get-ready-to-open-your-pocketbooks

Unfortunately, we tend to over look the critical period of shaping projects like this. Based on the information FDOT made available for their public meetings, on their website, and local media articles, I could have told you five years ago that those trees were coming down.

Looking at the 2035 Cost Feasible Plan project map from 2009, the trees will probably be coming down for every other project that made the list.....once money is available to actually construct them. It's too late to get the trees back for Mandarin but hopefully this project serves as a wake up call for residents. If we can get active early on, solutions that preserve the natural landscape, while serving more modes than just the automobile, may end up being built more often.

[coredumped]

It's too late to get the trees back for Mandarin but hopefully this project serves as a wake up call for residents.

You're right,  it is too late for Mandarin, my hope now is that this will be a total failure and the project is abandoned for the rest of the beltway before the first shovel digs elsewhere.

Jax is 1 of the 4 large cities in the state, and I put it at the bottom of the list in terms of traffic issues, these lanes are not necessary.

[pierre]

Will the pay lanes in Image B ever be used?

[David]

Ah yes, I do remember reading about this a while ago -  thought it was proposed but never finalized.

I know we're talking about what could've been done to  keep the natural barriers, but what other amenities could've been added to the 295 project? People don't exactly walk or bike out here too much. At least not to get around like they do in the urban core.  The distances are just too far/traffic is too heavy. 

[thelakelander]

I do believe a shared use path paralleling I-295 would have gotten decent recreational use in Mandarin. There's quite a few neighborhoods, parks and schools that could have been possibly connected. Even without something infrastructure related, perhaps the amenity could have been a roadway design that preserved the trees.

[southsider1015]

Lake, there are concepts that propose to build a continuous, longitudinal bridge with pier columns located in the mediam, elevating the managed lanes above the general use lanes.  This is only solution which would have saved the trees, due to the number of lanes proposed.  so instead of building out, it's building up. 

It's a crazy expensive solution, and it makes almost zero sense to save trees and spend another $100 million. 

Also, up next, I-295 Express from 9B to JTB.  The Design-Build process is just now kicking off.  The original concepts are public information, and could be requested and reported on MJ. Hint hint hint.

[Know Growth]

Mandarin is inner city. I recall the 1970's euphoria over it's development potential.Here we are.