Suburban Infill: Baymeadows Junction

[thelakelander]

It would indeed make a good stop for a commuter rail station but then comes the problem of moving people from the station to their homes. If decent bike paths and mass transit (street cars etc) are not planned to do that, then we will only see even larger parking lots and a bigger nightmare on Baymeadows and Philips. This could probably have been a good site for Transit Oriented Development.

Actually, its a pretty good location.  There area already bike lanes on this portion of Baymeadows.  However, they do abruptly end about a block east of Philips.  There's also a ton of existing multifamily housing immediately west of the tracks.  Assuming a station platform is placed under the Baymeadows overpass, a 12' asphalt walking/jogging path could easily tie everything together.  So despite the suburban layout of everything in this area, walkability could be enhanced with the installation of a sidewalk paralleling the rail line. On top of this, the commercial uses in the area would be a destination for transit riders living near other stops and neighborhoods along the line.  For example, I could live in Springfield and catch a train down to Chicago Pizza for dinner or to catch a football game in a decent sports bar.

[thelakelander]

I was opposing the title of the post "Suburban Infill" which has a definition incongruent with the development.

I disagree with your (or Wikipedia's) definition.  While suburban infill can exhibit the characteristics of a transit oriented or New Urbanist, or smart growth development, it doesn't necessarily have to. 

I disagree with Wikipedia's definition as well.   The site plan could essentially stay the same, commuter rail comes in, a few sidewalks are added and then all of a sudden, a couple of smart growth principles become a part of the picture.  As cline said, while smart growth and new urbanist principles can be a part of suburban infill, they don't necessarily have to.  Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that its definately Adaptive Reuse.

[thelakelander]

However, Baymeadows Road east of Philips is dying (or some would say already dead).  There are many vacant buildings and storefronts.  Perhaps the presence of a rail stop could help to revitalize that area.  There would need to be some pedestrian-oriented modifications to the intersection of Philips and Baymeadows but the area could be turned around potentially.

Great point.  Baymeadows is definately in need of a makeover.  Considering the location of that stretch between I-95, the tracks and the office parks, it sets up perfectly for smart growth oriented redevelopment.

[copperfiend]

When Citibank moved out of Baymeadows, that was 3k+ people no longer going down that stretch of road. I did notice however that they were building a Sheraton branded hotel on that side of Baymeadows.

[Ocklawaha]

Sorry, but can we re-ID the EMD (Electro-Motive Division of GM) office? The EMD field office was on New Kings Road, at the current CSX crossing-overpass construction site. This is on the Port Access line and within a long block of NS, with easy access to FEC as well via the NS. Never on the Southside as far as I know.

The building still stands, but is in another use as EMD has been spun off and is independent today.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

I like the above idea, and frankly so does the Florida East Coast (but you didn't hear that here). HA! They would like it even better if we could do this at Race Track Road, and Sunbeam. I think the map was not intended as high detail, but lets try not to forget without redeploying the bus fleet, and use of some quality bus features (yes, even BRT) Commuter Rail will fail. It must have feeders at the stops, (Remote Parking is also VERY IMPORTANT) so I added a couple of fantasy loops for buses - a stairwell and elevator down to trackside would finish them off. Otherwise, running the buses down alongside, and under by the platforms would be cheaper and maybe make more sense.

[thelakelander]

Sorry, but can we re-ID the EMD (Electro-Motive Division of GM) office? The EMD field office was on New Kings Road, at the current CSX crossing-overpass construction site. This is on the Port Access line and within a long block of NS, with easy access to FEC as well via the NS. Never on the Southside as far as I know.

The building still stands, but is in another use as EMD has been spun off and is independent today.

OCKLAWAHA

Nice catch.  I noticed I have historic images of two separate local GM facilities.  The Southside building (shown in the first image) was the GM Parts Center, not the EMD.  When we'll have to edit that out.

[thelakelander]

I like the above idea, and frankly so does the Florida East Coast (but you didn't hear that here). HA! They would like it even better if we could do this at Race Track Road, and Sunbeam. I think the map was not intended as high detail, but lets try not to forget without redeploying the bus fleet, and use of some quality bus features (yes, even BRT) Commuter Rail will fail. It must have feeders at the stops, (Remote Parking is also VERY IMPORTANT) so I added a couple of fantasy loops for buses - a stairwell and elevator down to trackside would finish them off. Otherwise, running the buses down alongside, and under by the platforms would be cheaper and maybe make more sense.

No, the map wasn't intended to detail station design.  It was only intended to show how a station could benefit and be connected with the surrounding mix of land uses.  As for associated parking, I believe the Winn-Dixie shopping center has a large number of empty spaces.  A portion of that property and its large surface lot, could potentially be redeveloped for additional retail and mass transit support uses.

[Ocklawaha]

No, the map wasn't intended to detail station design.  It was only intended to show how a station could benefit and be connected with the surrounding mix of land uses.  As for associated parking, I believe the Winn-Dixie shopping center has a large number of empty spaces.  A portion of that property and its large surface lot, could potentially be redeveloped for additional retail and mass transit support uses.

I thought so, but with the sidewalks/trails on it, I just wasn't sure. Your RIGHT, the GM thing on the Southside was the parts place. Makes sense too as FEC is more focused on single-car railroading then the other carriers, and they would have better local service.

As for the parking lots, that is something I spoke to Cameron Jones about on his Gateway Mall project. It would be awesome any place that RETAIL-PARKING-WORK-LIVE-and RAIL all come together. The idea of combining these parking facilities with transit parking has worked as a win-win in many places.  

OCKLAWAHA